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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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AUBURN, N. Y. 



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D. MORRIS KURTZ. 



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>i^FULLY 4. ILLUSTKATEB.* 



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PUBLISHED BY 

THE KURTZ PUBLISHING 00. 

1884. 






Copyright by 

THE KURTZ PUBLISHING 00-, 

1884. 



\fW. J. MOREf^,- 

PRINTER AND HINDKR', 

AUBURN. N. Y. 



PREFACE. 



The object in writing AuBtiRN, N. Y., Its Fa('ILities and Resources, has been 
to show the rise, growth and progress of Auburn ; its importance as a centre of 
manufacture and commerce; its attractiveness as a place of residence and the 
advantages it offers as a location for manufacturing enterprises. 

The aboriginal history of this locality is full of interest, but does not, in the 
opinion of the publishers, come within the province of a work of this character, and 
did it, I would be unable to cope with the subject. It has received the attention 
of men of ability, however, and a work by the able writers and scholars, Dr. 
Charles Hawley and General John S. Clark, botli life-long residents of this city, 
' is now in press and will soon be issued. While I have not attempted to give a his- 
tory of Auburn in detail, I have endeavored to sketch a comprehensive outline of 
its history from the earliest settlement down to the present time, showing its 
growth and the causes leading to this growth — simply noting its progress and the 
development of its resources. Considerable space has been devoted to the Auburn 
Theological Seminary and the Auburn State Prison, and the other public build- 
ings, grounds and works have received due attention. The material for this part 
of the work was drawn largely from Henry Hall's "History of Auburn," (pub- 
lished in 1869 and acknowledged to be the most accurate, and, in fact, the only 
complete history of Auburn ever written) and the '"History of Cayuga County," 
by Elliott G. Storke, (1879). The facts given in these two works were carefully com- 
pared, and when a contradiction was discovered the error was traced and corrected. 
Hence I believe the historical facts presented in the following pages are accurate 
and reliable. 

The chapters devoted to the "Manufacturing Interests " and " General Business 
Interests'" will be found to contain much of interest not only to the resident of Au- 
burn but to the general I'eader abroad. Nearly all of the short sketches appearing 
in these chapters were written by gentlemen employed by the publishers for this 
purpose. They were instructed to be careful and make no statements that would 
not bear investigation and could not be substantiated, and especially to be accurate 
in regard to the historical facts and dates given ; and I believe these instructions 
were strictly observed. 



IV PREFACE. 

The pretense is not made that every manufacturing and mercantile establish- 
ment in Auburn has been reviewed in these chapters, but it is claimed that very 
few important enterprises have been neglected. For reasons of their own, the 
publishers have been pleased to omit the sketches relating to the large axle manu- 
factories of Sheldon & Co., in the Auburn Prison and on Sheldon Avenue ; the 
shoe manufactories of Dunn, Barber & Co., in the Auburn Prison and on Garden 
street ; the hollow ware manufactory of Jones & Merritt, Auburn Prison ; the 
hame manufactory of Hayden & Boyd, Auburn Prison, and several smaller con- 
cerns (manufacturing and mercantile), for which I can only express sorrow. But 
I believe the work, as a whole, will be considered very complete, and hope it will 
serve the purpose contemplated — that the pen and pencil sketches contained herein 
may attract the attention of possible investors to this beautiful city, as well as 
prove interesting to all into whose hands they come. 

D. M. K. 

Auburn, N. Y., May, 1884. 




CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Auburn in 1884. 

A Description of the City on the Hills — Its Location and Surroundings. 

CHAPTER II. 
History of Auburn. 

Formation of Cayuga County — The Military Land Grant — The Town 
of Aurelius — Its Settlement and the Founding Therein of the City of 
Auburn. 

CHAPTER III. 
History of Auburn. 

Hardenburgh's Corners — Rivalry Between the "Corners" and Clarksville — 
Hardenburgh's Corners Grows Rapidly and is Chosen as a Location for the 
County Seat. 

CHAPTER IV. 
History of Auburn. 

Hardenburgh's Cornel's Named Auburn — -Pi'ogress of the Village Under 
its New Name — Auburn in 1810 — Five Years Later. 

CHAPTER V. 

History of Auburn. 

Its Incorporation as a Village and the Consequent Improvements — The 
Building of the State Prison and General Progress — Auburn in 1835. 

CHAPTER VI. 
History of Auburn. 

The Year 1836 and its Promises of a Bright Future — The Panic of 1837 
— Slowly Recovering from the Effects of the Panic. 

CHAPTP]R VII. 
History of Auburn. 

Auburn Chartered as a City — Brighter Days and Rapid Progress — The 
City in 1869. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
History of Auburn. 

The Prosperity Following the War of the Rebellion — The Reaction of 
1873 — The Decade from 1873 to 1883. 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Theolo(5I(^al Seminary. 

A Description of the Auburn Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian 
Church of Central and Western New York — Its History. 

CHAPTER X. 
The Auburn Prison. 

A History and Description of this Celebrated Penal Institution — The 
State Asylum for Insane Criminals. 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Wheeler Rifles. 

The State Armory and the Military Organization Occupying It — The 
Second Separate Company, 7th Brigade, 4th Division, N. G. S. N. Y. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Other Public Buildings, Grounds and Works. 

The City Hall and the County Buildings — The Cayuga Asylum for 
Destitute Children — The Cemeteries — The Water Works, Gas and Steam 
Heating Works. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
A Pew Facts. 

Regarding Auburn as a Place of Residence and as a Location for Manu- 
facturing Enterprises — The Churches, Schools, Libraries, Newspapers, 
Banks, &c. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Manufacturing Interests. 

The D. M. Osborne & Co. Works — The Largest Manufactory of Har- 
vesting Machinery in the World — A City Within Itself. 

CHAPTER XV. 
Manufacturing Interests 

The E. D. (^lapp Enterprises — The E. D. Clapp Manufacturing (Jo. 
and the E. D. (!lapp Wagon Co. — Two Great Manufactories. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Manufacturing Interests. 

The Auburn Manufacturing Co. — The Largest Manufacturers of Agri- 
cultural Hand Implements in the World. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Manufacturing Interests. 

A. W. Stevens & Son's Thresher and Farm Engine Manufactory — A 
Successful Enterprise. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Manufacturi.mg Interests. 

The Empire Wringer Co. — The Birdsall Co. — Two Important (-ontri- 
butors to the Wealth of the City. 



CONTENTS. vii 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Manufacturing Interests. 

Josiah Barber & Son's Carpet Manufactory — The Auburn Button Co. — 
The Logan Silk Mills. 

CHAPTER XX. 
Manufacturing Interests. 

The Auburn "Woolen Co. — The Canoga Woolen Co. — Nye & Wait's Car- 
pet Manufactory — Woodcock & Co., the Machinists. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Manufacturing Interests. 

The Auburn Tool Co. — David Wadsworth & Son, Scythe Manufacturers 
— C. W. Conklin, Boiler Manufacturer — Auburn Iron Works. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Manufacturing Interests. 

W. W. Crane, the Iron Pounder and Machinist — Shapley & Peters, Ma- 
chinists — Isaac W. Quick, Reapers and Mowers — Auburn Agricultur- 
al Works. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Manufacturing Interests. 

William Sutcliffe, the Brewer — The Auburn Mills — J. A. Cook, Oil Man- 
ufacturer and Dealer — White & Rowe, Carriage Builders — M. J. Schicht. 
Box Maker. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Manufacturing Interests. 

Peat & Klinkert, Furniture Manufacturers and Dealers — The Stone Mill 
— John M. Hurd, agent — Wills, Home & Co. — Charles J. Schweinfurth — A. 
P. McDonough. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Manufacturing Interests. 

Gurdon S. Panning, Brewer and Maltster — D. P. G. & W. 0. Everts & 
Co. — James A. Stevens — Augustus Rothery — John Elliott — James Holmes 
— William Koenig. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
General Business Interests. 

The Auburn Eye and Ear Hospital— The Auburn Paper Co.— Manning, 
Howland & Clarke — Irven Shoemaker — Walter Bray — H. D. Wlkin. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
General Business Interests. 

The Auburn Copying House— The Boston Store— Driggs, Phillips & Co. 
—Fred H. Powell— Henry L. Adams— J. M. Elliott— J. L. Baker. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
General Business Interests. 

The New Era in Auburn Real Estate — A. W. Lawton's Real Estate and 
Insurance Agency — Barker, Griswold & Co. 



viir CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

General Business Interests. 

Sketches of Two Successful Men — John E. Allen, Proprietor of the Os- 
borne House — James C. Stout, the Contractor and Builder. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Cteneral Business Interests. 

Watson, Cox & Co. — Weeks, Cossura & Co. — TenEyck & Co. — C. A. Por- 
ter — L. Marshall. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

General Business Interests. 

Lyon, Elliott & Bloom— Ward & Tompkins— W. J. Sutton— Three Well- 
Known Genesee-street Houses. 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

General Business Interests. 

Ingalls & Co. — The Singer Sewing Machine Co. — The Auburn Copying 
Co. — Frederick Allen. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
General Business Interests. 

A. E. Swartout — John W. Rice — Alex. McCrea — Henry 1). Barto — Four 
Widely-Known Business Men. 

CHAPTER XXX IV. 
General Business Interests. 

David W. Barnes — William C. Burgess — The Auburn Portrait ( 'o. — 
Mitchell J. Cameron. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
General Business Interests. 

J. Henry Ivison — Charles Carpenter & Son — Charles H. Sagar — Henry 
W. Brixius — Green & Wicks — John K. Tallman — S. C, Tallman &. Co. — Or- 
lando S. ('lark. 




AUBURN, N. Y. 



ITS FACILITIE AND RESOURCES, 



CHAPTER I. 



AUBURN IN 1884. 



A Description of the City on the Hills — Its 
Location and Surroundings. 



AMONG the great chain of lakes in the central part of the State of New York, 
the Owasco, although one of the smallest, is probably the greatest in jwint 
of commercial value, by reason of the immense water power it affords. — 
The country surrounding is much broken by a succession of hills and dales that are 
the chief characteristics in the topography of the entire lake region. On the emi- 
nences that bound the basin of the Owasco Lake on the north, at the point where the 
outlet, breaking through the hills, leaps down a succession of natural and artificial 
waterfalls and affords a water power that in many respects is the most magnificent 
in the State, is planted the City of Auburn. 

Covering an area three miles square. Auburn, with its wide and shaded streets, 
handsome residences, massive public and private buildings, and immense manufac- 
tories, is certainly one of the most attractive, as it is one of the most prosperous cities 
in Western New York. The Owasco Outlet, at a distance of two miles from the 
lake, runs into the city with a northerly course, makes an abrupt curve in the 
heart of the town and runs out directly westward, having turned on its way, the 



10 AUBURN, X. Y., ITS 

wheels of many busy factories. The ground descends toward the outlet in ever)' 
part of the city proper, and a large portion of the town lies in the valley of the 
stream, which is spanned by numerous bridges. The streets are laid out with con- 
siderable though not entire regularity, among the residences the blocks being rect- 
angular in shape, while in the business portion they are polygons of every descrip- 
tion. Genesee street, the principal business thoroughfare, starts on the hill in the 
east, dips down into the valley of the outlet, crosses the Owasco, ascends the 
western hill, and then descends into the valley again still farther west. The plain 
upon the bold hill that bounds the valley on the north and east contains some fine 
residences and important public institutions, among them the Theological Semi- 
nary, but is generally occupied by the dwellings of the growing raanufcicturing 
population, while surrounding the beautiful eminence in the southwestern part of 
the city known as Fort Hill, whose groves and green sides aided the landscape 
gardeners in an extraordinary degi-ee, are built the elegant mansions of the 
wealthy manufacturers and capitalists. The northern part of the city, lying in 
the valley, is brought into prominence through the location here of the massive 
structures occupied by the State Prison, but also contains many large mercantile 
buildings and a number of attractive houses. " The residences of the place," 
wrote Henry Hall in 1869, " are, for the most part, solid and elegant structures of 
brick and wood, and stand in the midst of lawns, conservatories, fountains, choice 
shrubbery and other evidences of taste. The business blocks are massive cut 
stone and brick edifices, with handsome fronts and interior-;, and are generally 
four stories high. The public buildings and works are of superior finish and archi- 
tecture. Auburn fully maintains the reputation for beauty accorded to her mod- 
est little namesake in Europe,* despite the ugliness of ancient I'ookeries in some 
of the older streets and the drawbacks in this direction that attend an extensive 
manufacturing town." And this description still answers, with the exception of 
such modern improvements as have only sei'ved to beautify the city. Bows of 
handsome elms, maples, poplars and sycamores adorn every street ; from all parts 
of the city rise the tall spires of uniformly elegant church edifices ; and the vis- 
itor Ls at once impressed by the strange combination of all the life and bustle of a 
busy manufacturing town with the beauty and attractiveness of a rural city of 
homes exclusively. 

The population of Auburn is about 20,000, but it presents the appearance of a 
city of much larger size. Its stores and shops rival those of neighboring cities of 
greater pretensions, and its manufactories rank among the first in their respective 
lines of industry, some of them, indeed, being acknowledged as the largest of 
their kind in the world. A densely populated farming region, widely known for 
natural beauty and productiveness of soil, surrounds the city and furnishes it with 
a large trade. 

Auburn is situated near the centre of Cayuga County, in latitude N. 42 deg. 53 
min., and longitude deg. 53 min, E. fi'om Washington, This county lies about 
equi-distant from Albany on the east and Buffalo on the west. It is the eastern- 
most of the lake counties, having Skancateles Luike on its eastern boundary, 
Owasco Lake in the interior, and Cayuga Lake upon the west, with Lake Ontario 
on its northern boundary. The counties of Oswego, Onondaga and Cortland 
bound it on the cast, Tompkins on the south, and Seneca and Wayne on the west. 
It extends from north to south a distance of 55 miles, with an average breadth of 
about 14 miles. The distance from Auburn to Syracuse is 2C miles; to Albany 



♦See chapter IV, "ILiidt-nburgh's Corners named Auburn.* 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 



11 




GENESEE STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM STATE, 

174 miles; to New York, 318 miles; to Boston, 374 miles. From Auburn to Roch- 
ester the distance is 78 miles; to Buffalo, 174 miles; to Chicago, 685 miles. To 
the city of Philadelphia, via Southern Central Railroad, it is 374 miles, and to 
Washington by the same route, the distance is 400 miles. 

The neighborhood of beautiful lakes, whose waters teem with delicious fish and 
which are surrounded by the most inspiring scenery, add largely to the attractive- 
ness of Auburn as a place of residence. The Owasco, but two miles distant, al- 
though having an extreme width of only one and a quarter miles and a length of 
ten and three-quarter miles, is one of the prettiest in the great chain of lakes and 
affords a delightful retreat during the hot summer months. On its banks are built 
many neat cottages, the occupants of which while away the summer days in yacht- 



12 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

ing and other kindred enjoyments. Skaneatelcs Lake, about twelve miles south- 
east, is another pretty little lake noted for its picturesqueness, while twelve miles 
west lies the far-famed Cayuga, 40 miles long and from one to three miles wide. 
On Cayuga Lake is the noted summer resort. Sheldrake Point; the pretty little 
village of Aurora, with its Military Academy and Wells College for young ladies; 
the celebrated Taghanic F'alls — and at the foot of the lake is the large and beauti- 
ful village of Ithaca, where is located the great Cornell University. And a few 
miles farther west lies Seneca, made famous by its Watkins Glen, and the elegant 
summer hotel at Long Point. All these equally delightful resorts being easy of 
access, Auburnians have such unfailing means of relaxation and pleasure that the 
location of their city may, indeed, be considered an enviable one. 

Here was the home of William II. Seward, whose name goes down to posterity 
with that of Abraham Lincoln, the mai-tyr, and Thaddeus Stevens, the great com- 
moner. And here, too, when the site of Auburn was simply the Indian village of 
Wasco, in the midst of a wilderness, was born the Indian sachem, Logan, known 
among his people as Tah-gah-jute. " Who is there to mourji for Logan ? Not one." 
These, the concluding words of his last speech to the white men and bis brothers 
in council, for the beauty and force of which he is so celebrated, are graven upon 
a monument standing in the beautiful cemetery now occupying the site of a fort 
that two hundred years or more before was occupied by the forefathers of this 
illustrious pagan. What changes have been wrought in the flight of time 1 



CHAPTER II. 



History of Auburn. 



FORMATION OF CAYUGA COUNTY — THE MILITARY LAND GRANT — 
THE TOWN OF AURELIUS — ITS SETTLEMENT AND THE FOUNDING 
THEREIN OF THE CITY OF AUBURN. 



CAYUGA COUNTY, of which Auburn is the capital, was fonncd from Onon- 
daga, March 8, 1799. The first general subdivision of the western part of 
New York state into townships took i)lace in 1789. All Western New York 
was then denominated — in honor of an eminent General of the Revolution — I\Iont- 
gomery County, the name it bore in colonial times (Tryon) having been discarded. 
In the sub-division of the county, the principal part of what is now Cayuga 
County was embraced within the limits of the town of Batavia. The towns of 
Aurelius and Milton were erected therefrom January 27, 1789, the former compris- 
ing all of the last named county north of an east and west line passing through 
the southern part of the village of Union Sjjrings; and the latter, the present 
towns of Genoa, Locke and Summerhill. The title to the whole territory owned 
by the Cayuga Iroquois was purchased February 25, 1789, and the State govern- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 13 

ment, through Hon. Simeon DeWitt, the Surveyor General, was fast surveying 
and accurately mapping the country; the humbled Iroquois nations were begin- 
ning to retire from their broad territories ; the doom of the red man was foretold, 
and henceforth that fair land which had been the hunting ground of his people 
for ages past, was to bo be the home of his white " brothei-." 

The county of Herkimer was erected from jMontgomery, February 16, 1791, and 
on March 5, 1794, Onondaga was formed from a part of Herkimer. On the day 
following the erection of Cayuga from Onondaga — March 8, 1799 — the only town- 
ships of the present Cayuga County were Aurelius (so-named after Sextus Aurelius 
Victor, the celebrated Roman historian whom the Emperor Constantius made con- 
sul,) Milton, Scipio and Sempronius. The first settlement within the present 
limits of Cayuga County was made in 1789 at Aurora, by Roswell Franklin, from 
Wyoming, and the subsequent influx of emigrants into the county was very rapid. 
In 1800, twelve years after the first settler had fixed his home here, Cayuga County 
had 15,097 inhabitants, the accession thus averaging for eleven years over 1,200 
per year; while Onondaga had then but 7,698. The tendency of emigration is 
thus seen to have been to the "lake region," the reputation of which for health 
and fertility had been widely circulated by the officers and soldiers of Sullivan's 
army, whose reports were confirmed by the subsctiuent surveyors and land seekers. 

The law of the United States Congress, passed on the 16th day of September, 
1776, pursuant to a report of the Board of War, providing for the enlistment of 
eighty-eight battalions of men to carry on the then lately declared war for inde- 
pendence, enacted that all officers and soldiers who should remain in the service 
till the close of the war or till discharged by Congress, and the representatives of 
such as should be slain by the enemy, should be entitled to receive from the Gov- 
ernment, upon the ratification of a treaty of peace, a grant of the United States' 
lands in Ohio, or a bounty. It was provided that privates should receive 100 acres 
of land, and officers in proportion to their rank ; the Major-General's bounty be- 
ing fixed at 1,100 acres. An act of the New York Legislature of March 20, 1781, 
authorizing the formation of two regiments for the defense of the State frontier, 
promised the members of these regiments a bounty of land equal to five times 
their United States grant, and in addition to the same. At the close of the war 
an arrangement was perfected by the State by which the New York soldiers were 
permitted to relinquish their claim upon the United States bounty and to receive 
double grants in one parcel located in their own territory. Peace having been 
declared, the volunteers of New York demanded their bounties. But, as the In- 
dian title to the unsettled lands was not yet extinguished, a delay ensued. The 
troops became clamorous, and on May 15, 1786, the Surveyor General was directed 
to lay out a number of townships in the northern part of the state to satisfy their 
claims. These lands, comprising what is known as the old military tract, were 
located in Essex, Clinton and Franklin counties. At this time the wonderful re- 
ports brought home by the soldiers sent out into the Cayuga and Seneca counties 
to punish the Indians — of the extraordinary loveliness and fertility of the regions 
about the seven lakes, and the majesty and commercial value of the forests that 
covered them — began to be generally noised abroad. Hearing this, speculators 
who were holding large numbers of soldiers' claims, induced the State authorities 
to defer their final settlement until an opportunity could be afforded of buying the 
Indian right to the more favored districts in the interior. This right was acquired^ 
as previously stated, in 1789. The Surveyor-General was then directed to locate 
the bounty lands in the Indian territories. One million eight hundred thousand 



14 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

acres were ordered to be set aside for the object, and to be surveyed into townships 
containing 100 lots of 600 acres each. Each lot the size of the share of a private 
was to be subject to a tax of 48 shillings to discharge the expense of the survey. 
The Onondaga Military Tract, as it was for many years known (embracing the pres- 
ent counties of Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga and Cortland, and portions of Wayne, 
Steuben and Oswego), was accordingly laid out and mapped witliout further delay 
by General Simeon Do Witt and his associates, Abraham Hardenbui'gh and Moses 
De Witt. At a meeting of the commissioners of the land office, held in the city 
of New York, July 3, 1790, twenty-five townships were reported as surveyed and a 
map was submitted for approval and accepted. Governor George Clinton being 
present, named and immbered the townships, Aurelius being numbered 8. The 
town lots were then distributed to those claiming them under the law, by ballot. 
This balloting was carried on at intervals for about two years, at the end of which 
time all obligations of the State for the payment of bounties in land had been dis- 
charged. 

In the meantime the whole of the State lying west of the military tract had 
passed into private hands by purchase of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
and was being offered for sale by the proprietors. A farm might tlien be bought 
anywhere in the interior of New York. The only obstacle to immediate settlement 
was the dense and almost trackless forest that overspread the country. It was im- 
passible to penetrate this wilderness by other means than the Indian trails and the 
streams and lakes. The trails, however, being widened by hewing out the trees, 
a torrent of emigration set in to every part of the interior, and the forest was rap- 
idly peopled with sturdy Englishmen and Dutchmen. The pioneers were largely 
composed of veterans of the Revolution, yet thousands caine from New England, 
driven out by the effect of the suppression of Shay's rebellion in 1780, and at- 
tracted by rumors of the beauty and fertility of this favored region; and many also 
came from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

The town of Aurelius came prominently into notice in this era of general settle- 
ment, and attracted emigration from places as far distant as Maryland, Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut, being, with the neighboring town of Scipio, well known as 
abounding in rich soils, magnificent scenery and unusual facilities for the suc- 
cessful prosecution of farming and manufacturing. The circumstances which con- 
stitute the first historical record of Auburn relate to six town lots in Aui'clius. 
They are designated by the Surveyor General, upon his map of the original town- 
ships of Aurelius, by the numbers 37, 38, 40, 47, 50 and 57, and are arranged in 
three tiers, the first two mentioned comprising the northern ; the next two the mid- 
dle, and the last two the southern tier. Lot No. 37, in the northwest section of the 
plot, became the property of Robert Dill, who held and improved it, though before 
his purchase it had passed through several hands from the soldier to whom it had 
been awarded. His title is dated December 12, 1791 ; he sold in 1790 to Amos and 
Gideon Tyler, 100 acres each from this lot, the former paying £40 and the latter 
£80 for their respective purchases. Lot No. 38, in the northeast corner, was pur- 
chased after the completion of the survey, on I'ebruary 27, 1789, by Garrett Van- 
Wagener. The sum paid for it is not stated, tlic title having also previously passed 
through several hands. Noah Olmstead, Jr., bought the south half of this lot in 
December, 1794, paying for it £120 (about $2 per acre.) Five hundred acres of lot 
No. 46, in the western part, was bought by Robert Dill for $1,200, and 100 acres 
lying in the southeast corner of the lot, in what is now the heart of the city of 
Auburn, was bought by William Bostvvick, in 1794, for $750. Lot No. 47, in the 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 15 

southeastern section, was purchased by John L. Hardenburgh, who paid £90 for 
his purchase— about 75 cents per acre. The bond he gave for the purchase money 
is dated February 20, 1792, and a receipt of its full payment is dated July 17, fol- 
fowing. Lot No. 50, in the southwest corner, became by grant the property of 
Nicholas Avery, who sold it to Edward Cumpston for twenty pounds sterling. On 
September 23. 1790, the title was vested by deed in Jeremiah Van Rensselaer — to 
whom the patent was issued — and Abraham Ten Eyek. Stephen N. Bayard 
bought the lot next, but sold part of his interest in it in June, 1792, to Eldad ^ 
Steel, and the balance, in July, 1792, to Bethel 6. Steel. Lot No. 57 was awarded 
to Colonel Peter Gansevoort, who retained the farm till he knew its value, and 
sold it in January, 1805, to Samuel Swift for |4,000. 

Among the deputy surveyors engaged under the direction of the Surveyor-Gen- 
eral and his assistants in surveying and mapping the townships in the Onondaga 
Military Tract was Captain John L. Hardenburgh, of Ulster County — a tall, 
swarthy officer, of Dutch descent, who was distinguished no less for gallantry in 
his regiment (the Second New York), while on Sullivan's expedition against the 
Seneca and Cayuga Indians, than for his ability as a surveyor. He was called in 
the discharge of his official duties to various parts of the military tract, and ac- 
quired a thorough acquaintance with its resources and character. With the wild 
valley in lot No. 47, Aurelius, he was particularly impressed. It was buried in 
dense woods, and unfavorable to immediate occupation from its swamps, but the 
immense water power of the Owasco River, arrested his attention. The stream, 
draining the Owasco Lake and the surrounding country, was a rapid for miles, 
abounding in little cascades and falls, while its current was full and strong, afford- 
ing facilities for manufacturing that were incomparable. The deputy surveyor, 
dreaming already of the future city, resolved to secure the water power by pur- 
chase of the adjacent lands, and found, if possible, a settlement at this point. 
Finding, upon balloting for bounties, in 1790, that the grants to which he was 
himself entitled were located in Fabius and Cicero, he sought out the assignees of 
Lot No. 47, and made a trade with them by which he became the proprietor of a 
tract embracing water privileges which promised to be the most valuable on the 
stream. 

Fitted by his vigorous habits and iron frame for a pioneer's life, ("aptain John 
L. Hardenburgh, the founder of Auburn, came into the township of Aurelius. 
early in 1793, and took possession of his farm, which was easily accessible by 
means of a rude wagon track or trail * that ran through the woods directly by the 
spot. He brought with him into the wilderness one child, a daughter, and two 
negro slaves, Harry and Kate Freeman. Undetermined, at first, where to build, 
he spent several days examining the valley, sleeping at night under the trees, 
and, at length, choosing a spot of dry ground near the road where it ci'ossed the 
Owasco, he engaged Gilbert Goodrich, a neighboring settler, to build him a 
cabin, the slave Harry in the meanwhile beginning to make a clearing. As soon 
as possible, after becoming settled in his new home in the woods. Captain Harden- 
burgh began the work of biiilding a grist mill. Throwing across the Owasco a 
stout log dam,f he employed two men from a neighboring settlement to build the 
mill, which was soon complete and running. It was built of logs, and covered 

* The old Genesee road, which entered the township from the northccstand crossing the site 
of Auburn very nearly upon the line of East and West Genesee streets, ran in a crooked man- 
ner westerly to Cayuga Lake. 

+ A few rods above the present stone dam cf th3 Lewis mill. 



16 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

with boughs, and contained one run of stone capable of grinding twelve bushels, 
of grain per day. Hitherto the nearest mill had been at Seneca Falls, or at Lud- 
lowville, now in Tompkins County, and the journey to either place over the forest 
roads, by plodding ox teams, was long and toilsome in the extreme. The erection 
of tlie new mill upon theOwaseo was, therefore, hailed with joy by the surrounding 
settlers, who speedily became its customers. The little mill more than realized 
the expectations of its builder, exercising from the outset the most important in- 
fluences on the destinies of the valley, and performing for Captain Hardcnburgh 
an essential service, bringing his property into notice and making his farm a sort 
of centre, residence at which was soon desii-able for business purposes. And thus 
was founded the city of Auburn. 



CHAPTER III. 



History of Auburn. 



HARDENBURGH'S CORNERS — RIVALRY BETWEEN THE '^CORNERS" 
AND CLARKSVILLE — HARDENBURGH'S CORNERS GROWS RAP- 
IDLY AND IS CHOSEN AS A LOCATION FOR THE COUNTY SEAT. 



THE INDIANS were the only occupants of the site of Auburn when Captain 
Hardenburgh settled, but settlers were now arriving in the township, and 
as the Captain extended the hospitalities of his house to every new comer, 
the nucleus of a village was soon gathered here, and the aborigines disappeared. 
The woods in the Owasco Valley were stocked with all kinds of game, and the in- 
habitants were compelled for yeai"s to practice constant watchfulness in order to in- 
sure the safety of their families and of their flocks and crops. Deer, squirrels, 
bears and wolves roamed the forest in almost incredible numbere, and wild fowl, 
foxes, rabbits and raccoons existed in myriads. The cranberry swamp north of an 
Indian village near Ilardenburgh's cabin, was a favorite retreat for large animals. 
But the wilderness contained no animals that were more dreaded, at first, than the 
wolves, for they were gaunt, powerful, red-haired beasts, hideous in appearance 
and dangerous as enemies, inspiring such terror by their numbers that some of the 
first residents of the township built their cabins, for the sake of security, without 
doors, making the windows, with the aid of a ladder, serve all the pur[)oses of en- 
trance and exit. Panthei"s were rarely seen, yet no man durst venture into the 
lonely i)arts of the woods without his gun, for feai- of meeting them. So great 
was originally the abundance of game in the township of Aurelius tliat the early 
settlers depended i)rincipally upon the chase for animal food. 

The town government of Aurelius was not yet organized and put into operation, 
owing to the great size of the township and the lack of inhabitants, and on the 
first Tuesday of April, 1794, the first town meeting was held at the house of Cap- 
tain Hardenburgh. The settlers, a sturdy, weatherbeaten band, gathered in the 
log cabin and selected their supervisor, town clerk, committee on schools, over- 
seers of highways, constables, pathmasters, fence-viewers, collector and pound- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 17 

keeper. It took nearly the whole population of the town to fill the offices. With 
the organization of the town government, however, improvements began making 
that made Aurelius more safe and attractive to settlers, and the influx of emi- 
grants began that has resulted in a population that cannot find enough oifices to 
be filled. 

The direct result of the operations of Captain Hardenburgh's mill, was an accu- 
mulation of settlers about the junction of the two roads there, which was called 
Hardenburgh's Corners. The point had become a jirofitable centre for merchants, 
and in 1795 James O'Brien came to the farm, erected a little log house, and 
opened the first regular store in the place. He was soon followed by others, in- 
cluding Dr. Samuel Crosset, the first physician; and in 1796, Samuel Bristol came 
to the Corners and opened the first public house. During this year, too, the first 
institution of learning was opened in a little log house. These advantages natur- 
ally attracted greater attention to the settlement, more people came in, and the 
building of a village of importance here then became an assured fact. 

Jehiel Clark, of Ballston Springs, Saratoga County, settled on the Owasco Creek 
on Lot 45, in 1795, and immediately constructed a log dam, alongside of which, in 
1798, he built saw and grist mills. The latter, which contained two runs of stone, 
was built with a massive frame, capable of defying the ravages of centuries, and 
its heavy beams may this day be seen in the mills of John S. Bristol, on Aiirelius 
avenue. Mr. Clark made an effort to start a city at this point, and at one time 
seemed in a fair way to succeed, for the nucleus of a community was quickly 
formed in the vicinity, which became known as Clarksville. Several roads which 
were built to open up easy access to the mills themselves, made the farm quite an 
important place. Hardenburgh and Clark were both vigorous and enterprising 
men, and between them there was a sharp rivalry as to whicii should draw to his 
locality the greatest number of settlers and secure the most business. But their 
rivalry only resulted in mutual benefit, and the two villages soon became one in 
fact, and then in name. 

Every road leading to Westei-n New York, in 1800, was choked with emigrants, 
bound to the military lands and the Valley of the Genesee, large numbers of whom 
settled by the side of the old Genesee trail, as they were able to obtain suitable 
farms. The oak openings in the present town of Aurelius, and the fertile towns to 
the South, were then competing strongly for settlers with the densely wooded and 
otherwise unfavored valley of the Owasco. The cleared ground at the Corners did 
not, at this time, exceed 150 acres, and the cultivated ground was embraced by a 
few small gardens. A succession of ridges, bogs and rills, a dismal and dangerous 
swamp, and stagnant pools scattered everywhere throiighout the woods, did not 
make the place a paradise, although the surrounding scenery Avas wild and imj^os- 
ing. The roads were always wet, and winter was the best time to travel, cold 
weather always stimulating emigration. In the summer, the road through the 
Corners was the worst between Utica and Canandaigua, 'a reputation which it sus- 
tained for thirty years. It was a source of great discomfort both to travelers and 
residents, and in conjunction with the wet lands exercised an unfavorable influ- 
ence on the place. The latter, indeed, came near proving fatal to the embryo city, 
many settlers being so prejudiced by them against the locality as to refuse to 
come here at all, and some, once established, afterward going away. Bristol's 
tavern, on the knoll, and Bostwick's, embowered among the trees, Hardenburgh's 
and Clark's grist mills, Hyde's tannery, Crossett's, O'Brien's and Bristol's stores, 
Burt's ashery, Goodrich's tavern and about a dozen log farm houses, formed the 



18 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

germ of the future city. And despite the unfavorable condition of tliinsjs, otlier 
settlers begun to locate here. 

Stages were, in 1800, running over the old Genesee road once a week, and during 
this year a post-office was established at the Corners, with a mail every fortnight. 
The inhabitants of the settlement were so augmented in numbers by 1803, that 
they extended a call to the Rev. David Higgins, of Haddam, Conn., who as a 
missionary had been holding religious services every four weeks at Aurelius, Cay- 
uga, Grover's Settlement and Hardenburgh's Corners, to officiate hei-c regularly. 
The call was accepted and the reverend gentleman came here to live. The con- 
struction of the great Genesee road, or Seneca turnpike, in 1802 and 1803, (for a 
quarter of a century the principal channel of trade and communication across the 
State of New York,) wafted many fresh settlers to the little hamlet, and a number 
of improvements were to be seen at Hardenburgh's Corners. The gig mill was 
superceded in 1802 by a story-and-a-half frame building containing a run of stone 
capable of grinding thirty bushels of grain daily; in 1803, another run of stone was 
added, increasing the capacity to 130 bushels daily, and in 1804, Colonel Harden- 
burgh also built a fulling mill. Thus each year showed a marked progress. 

For several years after the organization of the original Cayuga County, the vil- 
lage of Aurora, which was then central and nearest to the most populous towns, 
was its capital. Though not designated by law as the county seat, it was the 
placi3 in which the courts were held and the supervisors convened, and was gener- 
ally regarded as the leading market town of the county. The jail of the district 
was located at Canandaigua, although there was for a long time a log building at 
Cayuga that was used for the imprisonment of debtors. The growth and extent of 
the county necessitating a division of its territory, a law was passed in 1804, reduc- 
ing it to nearly its present size. Through the influence of Amos Rathbun, of 
Seipio, and .John Grover, of Aurelius, both Federalists, and then members of the 
Legislature, the law was made to contain a provision for the erection of the court 
house and jail of the newly-defined county at the village of Sherwood's Corners, 
under the direction of three commissioners, to defray the expenses of which the 
supervisors were to raise, by tax, the sum of $1,.'500. A warm controversy arose 
in the county over this action of the Legislature. The inconvenience of travel to 
Sherwood's Corners, which was far one side of the territorial centre of the county, 
and of the principal lines of inter-communication, led all the other villages to 
oppose the location of the county buildings there, and to assert their own claims to 
the honor of the county seat. Jehiel Clark, among others, advocated the ei'ection 
of the Court House at Clarksville; but Hardenburgh's Corners, Cayuga, Lavanna 
and Aurora each stoutly contested for the prize. The three commissioners never 
acted under the law of 1804, further than to designate a site for the building at 
Sherwcxjd's. The law was revoked and on the IGth day of May, 1805, Hon. Ed- 
ward Savage, f)f Washington county, Hon. James Burt, of Orange County, (both 
then State Senators,) and Hon. James Hildreth, of Montgomery County, were ap- 
pointed to explore Cayuga County, and decide the location of its capital. The 
commissioners discharged this duty the June following, and Hardenburgh's Corners 
was chosen the county scat for its eentrality, its position in the highways of travel, 
and its prosi)ectivc importance. The commissioners only required that one acre 
of land should be donated for the site of the public buildings. They selected a 
location on William Bostwick's farm, and Dr. Burt, Henry Ammerman, John H. 
Cumpston and Daniel Hyde agreed that the State should receive a deed for it, 
which j)roniise was in due time fulfilled. The southern towns were exceedingly 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 19 

dissatisfied at the location of tlie county seat on the Owaseo, and their supervisors, 
by refusing to appropriate suitable funds, delayed the building- of the Court House 
seTeral yeai-s. The citizens of the Cornere, however, began the constxuction of the 
building with their own resources, and then procured the passage of a law impos- 
ing a fine of $250 upon every supervisor refusing to levy taxes when legally re- 
quired. They then sued six of the obstreperous officials under the law, and a com- 
promise was thus effected. The money was raised to finish the court house and 
the work was completed in 1809 under the supervision of John Grover, Stephen 
Chase and Noah Olmstead, at an expense of $10,000. It was a strong, wooden 
edifice, two stories high, and was painted white. The jail and jailor's apartments 
were contained in the lower story, the walls of which were built of huge upright 
logs, united with heavy iron spikes. The lawn in front of the building, which 
stood a few feet behind the site of the present Court House, was a convenient and 
popular place for public meetings, and "Court House Green," as it was then called, 
was often thus used in pleasant weather. 



CHAPTER IV. 



History of Auburn. 



HARDENBURGH'S CORNERS NAMED AUBURN— PROGRESS OF THE 
VILLAGE UNDER ITS NEW NAME— AUBURN IN 1810— FIVE YEARS 
LATER. 



WHEN the State Commissioners had signified to the citizens of Har- 
denburgh's Corners their intention to constitute this place the 
county seat, the propriety of a more dignified and manageable name 
for the village was suggested, and the subject was agitated. At a jmblic meeting 
of the inhabitants, assembled for a decision of the question, a variety of views 
were disclosed, and the matter was referred to a committee consisting of Dr. Ellis, 
Dr. Samuel Crosset and .Moses Sawyer. Dr. Crosset suggested the adoption of the 
name "Auburn," which the committee Avas disposed to accept, and accordingly 
reported to the meeting. But the prototype of the poet's Auburn, which was situ- 
ated in the county of Longford, Ireland, in a parish or curacy held by his uncle, 
twelve miles north of the railroad that traverses the island from Galway to Dub- 
lin, and just east of the river Shannon, was not only the loveliest, but the most neg- 
lected village of the beautiful plain upon which it stood. Colonel Hardenburgh 
and several others therefore opposed the adoption of the Committee's report on 
the ground thiit the name "Auburn" was synonymous with " deserted village," 
and would injure the place. In lieii of Auburn, they suggested the names " Har- 
denburgh," and "Mount Maria." Captain Edward Wheeler liked none of these, 
but was in favor of calling the place "Centre." After a strong debate "Auburn," 
was finally chosen by a very large majority, and although a meeting was subse- 
quently called to induce the people to I'everse this decision, no departure was per- 
mitted from their first action. 



20 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

Rapid growth at Hardenburgh's Corners, or Auburn, as it must now be called, 
began with the designation of the village as the capital of the county, the erection 
of the public buildings and the removal here of the archives. These wei"e impor- 
tant measures, and they overturned a settled but adverse condition of things in the 
county. A strong corps of lawyers, who expected to reside at the county scat, where- 
ever it might be, was attracted hither, and the village gained through them wealth, 
influence and a valuable class of citizens. Since 1804. the village had been in re- 
ceipt of a serai-weekly mail, but in 1808 the postal facilities were increased by a 
daily mail. During this year, too, was established the first newspaper, the West- 
ern Federalist, by Henry and James Pace, two Englishmen, who had commenced 
the publication of the Gazette a.t Aurora two years previously, but, being starved out 
by the removal of the county seat, brought their whole office to Aubiu-n, as being 
a more profitable field of operation. The Western Federalist was printed on 
coarse blue paper, ten inches wide, by fifteen long, and was issued weekly. 

Seventeen little manufacturing establishments, scattered along the banks of the 
Owaseo Outlet in 1810, betokened the progress of local improvements. But the 
best illustration of the progress made by the village, is furnished by the fol- 
lowing description written by DeWitt Clinton, who visited Auburn at this 
time: "Auburn derives its name from Goldsmith. It contains three tan- 
neries, three distilleries, one coachmaker, two watchmakers, six merchants, 
three shoemakers, two potasheries, two wagon makers, three blacksmiths, two 
chairmakers. three saddlers, three physicians, a Presbyterian clergyman, and an 
incorporated library of two hundred and twenty volumes. It is the county town, 
and has about ninety houses, three law oifices, a post office, the court house and 
the County Clerk's office. It is a fine growing place and is indebted to its hy- 
draulic works and the court house for its prosperity. There are sixt^^en lawyers in 
Cayuga County. Auburn has no church. The court house is used for divine wor- 
ship. It is situated on the outlet of Owaseo Lake, on numbers forty-six and for- 
ty-seven, Aurelius. One hundred acres of forty-six belong to William Bostwick, 
inn-keeper, and the remainder to Robert Dill. The former has asked <me hundred 
and fifty dollars for half acre lots, the court house being on his land ; and the lat- 
ter has asked three hundred dollars for a water lot on the outlet, which is not nav- 
igable. Number forty-seven belongs to the heirs of John II. Hardenburgh, and 
covers the best waters of the outlet and a fine, rapid stream. Auburn is eight 
miles from Cayuga Lake, three miles from Owasco Lake, and not seventy-five miles 
from Utica. Owasco Lake is twelve miles long, and one wide. The outlet is four- 
teen miles long, and on it are the following hydraulic establishments : nine saw 
mills, two carding machines, two turners' shops, one trip hammer and blacksmith 
shop, two oil mills, five grist mills, three fulling mills, one bark mill and sevei-al 
tanneries. At the lower falls, Mr. Dill has a furnace, in which he uses old iron, 
there being no iron ore. At this place there is a Federal newspaper, published by 
Pace, the former partner of James Thompson Callender. Pace settled first at Au- 
rora, being attracted there by Walter Wood, and being starved out, he cajne here, 
and is principally supported by advertisements of mortgages, which must, if there 
be a paper in the county where the lands lie, be jn-inted in it, and this is tlie only 
one in Cayuga County." ***** 

Although there were several religious societies meeting for divine worship each 
Sabbath day, as yet there had not been erected a church edifice in the place, but in 
1811, an acre lot was cleared of the trees and conveyed to St. Peter's Protestant 
Episcopal Church Society by Mr. Bostwick, who was enabled with tlie assist- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 21 

tance of a donation of $1,000 from Trinity Church, in New York, and the warm 
co-operation of his fellow Episcopalians in the village, to erect a small, but strong 
and graceful wooden church, the first in Auburn.* This move toward the advance- 
ment of the religious and moral welfare of the commnity was immediately fol- 
lowed by a similar move toward the development of the educational facilties for 
the youth of the village. The education of youth was a matter of deep solicitude 
with the prominent men, who, remarking the beneficial influence of good schools 
upon society in the larger towns, were led to suggest the erection of an academy in 
this, and to support the proposition with offers of material aid. The project was 
first generally agitated in 1810, and a meeting called to ascertain the popular opin- 
ion on the subject, resulted in the appointment of a committee to solicit subscrip- 
tions to a building fund. In this the committee were highly successful, and on the 
5th day of January, 1811, the " Auburn School Association" was formed with the 
following object, as stated in the constitution : " The siabscribcrs, taking into con- 
sideration the necessity of literature to the welfare of society, that it affords nour- 
ishment to virtue and the only means of rational and social happiness ; and having 
also considered that the present state of the population of the village of Auburn 
and its vicinity require a literary institution equal in magnitude to an ordinary 
academy, which, by its respectability may hereafter induce an incorporation, have 
associated, and hereby do associate ourselves, for the purpose of such an institu- 
tion, and have contributed, for that purpose, the sums annexed to our respective 
names." The subscribers constituted the most influential men in the village. 
Land offered by Robert Dill, to aid the institution, was accepted as a site for the 
school, and the contract was let to erect an academy building. It was completed 
in February, 1813, at a cost of about $4,000, and was a plain, old-fashioned three- 
story brick building, sixty feet long by twenty wide, surmounted by an open 
belfry. 

The war of 1812 drew from Auburn several companies of men that were distin- 
guished for bold and resolute deeds. During the years 1813-14, the roads through 
the village were frequently traversed by troops and heavy supply trains. The 
great Western Turnpike, passing through Genesee street, which was then unim- 
proved, was the great line of military travel, and it was rendered nearly impassa- 
ble during the wet season by the heavy truckage over it ; yet the passage through 
the village of large masses of troops, to and from the West, that often encamped 
here and procured supplies, made the business of the place active and profitable 
while the war lasted. One of the results of the increased prosperity of the village 
during this period, was the establishment of another newspaper, the Cayuga Pa- 
triot, the first competitor of the Wesfeni Federalist. It was started in 1814, and 
was a dusky looking little quarto of eight pages. lion. Thurlow Weed set type 
for several months in the office of this paper. Representing the views of the Dem- 
ocratic party, which was fast rising into importance in this State, and contained in 
its ranks some of the finest men of the county and district, it was well received 
and suppoi'tcd. 

Had DeWitt Clinton visited Auburn five years later, he would have found a 
plain, rather Dutchy looking village, of two hundred buildings. Numerous, well- 
travelled public roads had, by the enterprise of the founders of the village, been 
built to and through the place, constituting it a market for the surrounding towns. 



*This was the first regularly formed religious society in Auburn, ■•ind was organized in July 
1805. For many years (until this church was erected), services were held in the 'long room " of 
Bostwick's Tavern. 



aa AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

Its streets Wfcre full of activity, and emigrants were flowing in so fast, that land- 
owning citizens were meditating and opening now sti-Cets, to provide for the fresh 
demand for building lots. The roads still suffered from the wear of the War, but 
by means of the avails of lotteries, and subscriptions of work, they had been greatly 
improved— many from mere bridle paths had become respectable thoroughfares. 
They were all under the superintendence of the highway commissioners of the 
township, who were authorised to op^en all necessary lines of travel and discon- 
tinue such as were useless. The village Was already a promising place, with an in- 
dustrious population of one thousand souls, who found employment in the mills, 
in the business of clearing new lands, or in the shops, stores, and taverns that 
were plentifully sprinkled along the sides of the principal business street (Genesee). 
Thirty odd stores and shops, and no less than six taverns, displayed their various 
siti-ns, and there were five brick buildings on the street. The great swamp through 
which State, Dill and Water streets were afterward run, was in the process of dry- 
ing up. The inhabitants of the town had not long before taken a favorable op- 
portunity, entered the swamp and cut down and burned up all the thickets and 
trees that were growing there. Exposed to the sun and wind, the morass eventu- 
ally became solid ground. Auburn was thus in 1815 a thriving settlement, not 
only located on the grand highways of travel and trade, but well placed in the 
heart of a fertile and rapidly filling country. Hundreds of acres of forest land 
were now being cleared up yearly and cultivated. The village itself possessed im- 
mense undeveloped resources, and was at this time considerably ahead of all other 
settlements in Western New York. Rochester was a mere handful of log houses 
on the banks of the Genesee River. Syracuse was a farm, where Edward Pattan, 
then residing at Onondaga Hill, went to buy cattle to stock his meat market. Ge- 
neva and Canandaigua were small, and in point of growth neai'ly stationary. Au- 
burn on the contrary, though sorely in need of incorporation, for the sake of im- 
proving its streets and preventing fires, was prosperous and growing. 



CHAPTER V. 



History of Auburn. 



ITS INCORPORATION AS A VILLAGE AND THE CONSEQUENT IM- 
PROVEMENTS—THE BUILDING OF THE STATE PRISON AND GEN- 
ERAL PROGRESS— AUBURN IN 1835. 



AUBURN was legally incorporated a village by the LegislatUi-c on the 18th 
day of April, 1815. By the terms of the Act, the freeholders and inhab- 
itants of lot No. 47, Aurelius, and the eastern half of 46, were constitu- 
ted a body corporate, with perpetual succession and power to erect public buildings, 
procure fire engines and utensils, regulate the streets and sidewalks, and to exor- 
cise all needful authority for the preservation of good order and the public health. 
*rhe officers of the village were five trustees, three assessors, a clerk, a treasurer, 
and a collector, who were, with the exception of the collector, to be elected on th« 



FACILITIES ANT) RESOURCES. 23 

first Monday in May each year. The first Board of Trustees was Composed of 
Joseph Colt, the President, Enos T. Throop, Bradley Tuttle, Lyman 
Payne and David Hyde, who met monthly, or as often as circumstan- 
ces required, at the office of the President, The duty of putting the 
government into operation, they discharged with great discretion. Pro- 
tection of the village from fire and the improvement of the streets and 
walks, were among the first official acts. A fire engine was purchased in New 
Yorlc and shipped by boat up the Hudson, At Newburgh the boat was ice bound 
and the engine brought thence by team, which required fifteen days. Auburn 
had a notorious reputation for mud. Its walks, where any were found, consisted 
of slabs irregularly laid in the spring, but regularly consumed for fuel in the win- 
ter, and its streets Were a sea of mud during the wet season. But in the fall of 
1816, an order was issued for the laying of brick or plank sidewalks, eight feet in 
width, and the principal streets were then from time to time scraped, repaired 
and grtMled, and the walks ex-tended, to the inexpressible satisfaction of every 
dweller in the village. 

The projxisition to erect, in some one of the villages of Western New York, a 
new prison, had been under the consideration of the Legislature for several years, 
and the necessity for such an institution being strongly urged by the prison airthor" 
ities of the State, the resolution had teen taken to build it. In the matter of its 
location, which was foi* a time an open question. Auburn felt the deepest interest. 
It Was desirable thskt an institution so well calculated to confer importance and 
prosperity on any place should be built here. The claims of Cayuga County were 
presented in the Legislature by John H. Beach, then the member of Assembly from 
this district, who was undoubtedly the leading spirit in the lower House in 1816, 
The government of the State was then in the hands of the Democratic party,, for 
which Cayuga County, though once strongly Federal, had risen to give one of 
the largest majorities of any county in the State. Suffolk and Orange, it 
is believed, alone exceeded it. When the question of locating the prison 
was agitated, therefore, Auburn came favorably into view, and on the 13th 
day of April, 1816, three citizens of the village, Hon. Elijah Miller, James 
Grover and Hon. John H. Beach, were authorized by law to build that institution 
here. Citizens of Auburn had agi'eed to donate a site, and two such were proffered 
' — one by George Casey, situated on the southern bounds of his farm, near a stone 
quarry, where the foundation might have been laid upon the solid rock, and an- 
other by Samuel Dill, David Hyde, John H. Beach and Ebenezer S. Beach, on 
the bank of the outlet, at a point where, by constructing a damaci'oss the stream, a 
valuable water power was obtainable. The latter site was accepted by the com- 
missioners on account of the water power, and a deed was received for the same on 
the 22d of June, Six acres and twenty perches were conveyed to the State, with 
sufficient land for a six-rods-wide road on three sides of the lot, and the privilege 
of building a dam and using half the water power. Plans for the prison buildings 
having been prepared by J. 0, Daniels, Esq., architect, and approved by the Jus- 
tice of the Court of Chanceiy, William Brittin, a competent master bixilder, was 
employed to cany them out, and the contract for the masonry work was awarded 
to ^saac Lytle, Foundations for the stone inclosure were put under way immedi- 
ately, and on the 28th of June, the southeast corner-stone of the wall, in which 
was placed a bottle of whisky, was laid. Twenty thousand dollars were expended 
the first season on the work, which employed not only every builder in Auburn, 
Bot otherwise engaged, but large numbers from abroad. The erection and inclo- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 25 

sure of the main building, and the carrying up of the outside wall to a height of 
fom- feet, were the results of 181G; by the winter of 1817, the south wing was in 
readiness for the reception of criminals, and the work thenceforth went rapidly 
forward.* 

Scarcely was the prison under way when the leading business men of the town 
began to agitate the question of the establishment of a bank here, a measure which 
had been rendered necessary by the heavy disbursements of money by the State 
Commissioners and the demand by citizens for the use of capital to develop tlie 
resources of the town. No regular banks of deposit and issue were in operation at 
this time nearer than those at Canandaigua and Utica, although proiuinent mer- 
chants, both in Auburn and the surrovmding villages, were in many cases deposi- 
tories of funds and bankers for their customers and friends. The necessity for a 
bank in Auburn was apparent, and such an institution, by the style of the Auburn 
Bank, was tlicrefore chartered May 31, 1817, with a capital of $400,000. The 
shares were Hxcd at $50 each, subscription books were opened and soon 21,803 
shares were taken. The bank was formally organized in July, 1817, and immedi- 
ately opened for business. 

The new vigor that pervaded ev.'ry department of action, after the incorpora- 
tion of the village, led to the organization of a number of religious societies and 
enabled them to erect houses of worship. The Theological Seminary, also due to 
(he same causes, was a daring enterprise of 1819. The history of the semina- 
ry will be found in another chajiter under the proper title. 

In 1820, Auburn had a population of 2,238 and was in such a prosperous condi- 
t ion that the Columbian Garden, with an amphitheatre for circus performances, a 
ten-pin alley, a stage and galleries for the drama, and arrangements forfii-e works 
and music, was opened, and became a place of popular resort at all times. In the 
meantime, work had gone i-apidly forward on the State Prison, and in 1823, the 
massive main hall and wings, the extensive wooden work-shops for the coopers, 
blacksmiths, spinners and shoemakers, severally, and an inclosing stone wall, 
twenty feet high, were completed at a cost of $400,000. Its construction was a source 
of much of the prosperity of the village. Indeed, the advantages accruing to the 
village from the location therein of the prison of Western New York and from the 
expenditures of the moneys necessary in its erection were very great. The dignity 
and importance of Auburn among the villages of the State were immeasurably en- 
hanced ; the place rose into general notice, and by the developement of its quar- 
ries, water power and resources, its citizens acquired wealth and prosperity, and 
the-population advanced steadily in numbers. 

During this period valuable improvements had taken place on the Owasco — sev- 
eral extensive mills and new dams had been erected, while others were rebuilt and 
enlarged; an imposing array of new blocks, the seminary and other fine buildings 
were being built, giving additional prominence to the village, and the population 
increased until in 1825 it was reckoned that Auburn contained 2,982 inhabitants, 
and the citizens deemed that the business interests of the place demanded the es- 
tablishment of another bank. Journalism kept pace with the growing wants of 
the times. The Western Federalist had passed into the hands of Thomas N. 
Skinner, an enterprising young printer from Connecticut, and his partner, William 
Crosbie, in 1816, and the paper, conducted with ability, was issued under the style 
of the Auburn Gazette until 1819, when its name was changed to the Republican. 

* For full history and description of the State Prison, see Chapter X. 



26 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

In 1824, the Republican, as well as the Cayuga Patriot, the latter edited by 
Hon. Ulysses F. Doubleday, the father of Gen. Abner Doubleday, of Fort Sumter 
fame, received a competitor in the Free Press, a weekly sheet issued by Rich- 
ard Oliphant. The new journal was the largest west of Albany at the time of its 
first issue, having five large columns to the page. 

The next decade witnessed an era of prosperity that has never since been ex- 
celled. Great schemes for public improvement, that were fully expected to imme- 
diately develop the village into a city, were conceived, many of which never 
reached a successful fruition, but the village grew rapidly and each succeeding year 
found a largely increased population and such evidences of improvement as caused 
the visitor to agree with those claiming that it was "the loveliest village of the 
plain." In 1830, it contained a population of 4,486 souls, an increase of 1,594 in 
five years. The year 1829 had been one of the great building years, giving to 
Auburn its second church, a paper mill, a large number of fine dwellings, the 
American (an excellent large hotel,) several minor shops and mills, and six fine 
cut-stone stores, four stories in height. "Excelsior" seemed to be the motto and 
"Progress" the watchword of the rapidly growing village. In 1832, new Episco- 
pal and Methodist churches were erected, and a new stone county jail was built in 
1833. This was another gi-eat building year, and added to the village the De- 
maree block of seven cut-stone store houses, the Cayuga County bank building, 
John H. Chedell's handsome stone block of two stores, the Hyde & Watson's block, 
and numerous elegant wooden and brick buildings. A new Baptist church on 
Genesee street was erected in 1834, and during 1835, eighty-five new residences 
sprang up, among the most prominent buildings being a spacious four-story cut- 
stone block of eleven store-houses, on Genesee street, between South and Exchange, 
built by the Hon. William H. Seward, Nelson Beardsley, Jared Ij. Rathbun, of 
Albany, Calvin Burr, Nathan Burr, James T. Seymour, Palmer Holley and Corne- 
lius B. and Jacob R. De Reimer. The source of all this advancement and prosper- 
ity was exclusively the enterprise of the citizens, who were thoroughly pervaded 
with a passion for internal improvements, and were, during these past fifteen 
years, engaged in the most public-spirited schemes for the developement of the re- 
sources of the town, for its adornment and for the increase of the facilities of 
speedy transportation and travel to the grand marts of the State and country. 

The population of the village in 1835 had increased to 5,368, and this vigorous 
growth was accompanied with a corresponding expansion of the village itself. In 
the flight of the fifteen years ending with 1835, Auburn was wholly changed in 
appearance. Temples, store houses and mills, hotels, public buildings and dwell- 
ings, shot up into the air on every street, mingling with, or supplanting old erec- 
tions, filling the streets Avith piles of brick, stone and lumber, and throngs of 
workmen and working teams. The village was developing into a large, thriving, 
populous market town, which those who had visited it at the time of its incorpora- 
tion were unable to recognize. The place was prosperous beyond precedent. 
Great attention had been given to the gi'ading and ornamentation of the streets, 
which were leveled and macadamized ; and shade trees of choice varieties were set 
out along their sides by public spirited citizens, who formed an association for the 
purpose, each agix-eing, not only to plant trees in front of his own house, but at 
least one in front of his neighbor's. Auburn was almost ready to graduate from a 
village into a city, and its people were so wrapped up in the numerous enterprises 
then attracting their attention they did not perceive the clouds gathering and 
brewing the storm, which soon broke and almost swept them away in its flood. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 27 



CHAPTER VI. 



History of Auburn. 



THE YEAR 1836 AND ITS PROMISES OP A BRIGHT FUTURE — THE 
PANIC OF 1837 — SLOWLY RECOVERING FROM THE EFFECTS OF 
THE PANIC. 



THE YEAR 1836 was the most memorable in the annals of Auburn. No 
year ever began more auspiciously, terminated more joyfully, or was re- 
.garded at its 'close with more satisfaction by the merchant, mechanic, capi- 
talist and speculator. It was a period of extraordinary activity in every depart- 
ment of business, and of visionary speculation — the great excited year of Auburn's 
history. A new court house was erected, at a cost of about $30,000, while the or- 
ganization of the Female Seminary Association, the improvement of the North 
street cemetery and tlie erection of the Auburn park were also incidents of the 
year. Real estate rose to five and ten times its former value and the village was 
enlarged — on paper — to the bounds of the township. Lots and farms were sold at 
fabulous prices, while costly and spacious edifices were erected all over the place 
and new and large ones were planned, broad boulevards were laid out in the sub- 
urbs — the citizens all felt rich, and all made money, whether they bought or sold. 
Under the belief that the village was soon to be a powerful manufacturing town, 
land companies were formed and bought up all the out-lying lands at enormous 
rates, and public works were projected of unprecedented magnitude. The trus- 
tees of the corporation, at the request of the citizens, caused an imposing map of 
the town to be engraved and printed, displaying attractive representations of the 
Auburn College, the Prison, the Seminary and other public buildings, and of num- 
berless broad avenues and spacious blocks and other attractive features that only 
existed in their imagination. The closing night of 1836, the brightest year in its 
history, saw tlie streets of Auburn illuminated for the first time with oil lamps, 
as if in honor of its importance. The village entered peacefully upon another 
year. Never were its people more prosperous and contented, never were there so 
few among them that were idle or needy, never was the future more inviting. 
Ambitious citizens, looking through the vista of oncoming years, believed that 
they saw Auburn at no great distance a mighty and wealthy city, spreading even 
to the shores of the Owasco, and glittering with the spires of magnificent build- 
ings, among wliich was the lofty dome of the Capitol. 

But already was that gathering at the horizon which should reverse this picture. 
Scarcely was 1837 inaugurated before a financial storm of unprecedented severity 
appeared in tlie sky, and, bursting, swiftly prostrated the prosperity of Auburn 
and the State. Without the ability to stay its progress, the citizens saw tlie storm 
advance and overtake their bright schemes one by one and leave them in ruin. In 
the ardor of enterprise they had laid aside tlie cloak of caution, and were unpre- 
pared for the revelation. This year was, therefore, in Auburn a period of business 
reverses and calamities. These misfortunes were precipitated by a conflagration 



38 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

which occurred on the night of Saturday, January, 21, 1837, when in three hours 
fourteen buildings, on the south side of Genesee street, were laid in ashes, entailing 
a loss of not less than $100,000. The suspension of the business of those firms in 
the burnt district, with their losses, was a stunning blow. Few were able to sus- 
tain their misfortune, and their dejection added to the genei-al gloom in busi- 
ness circles, caused by the approach of hard times, which all could plainly see. 
The premonition of the financial storm of 1837 had first been heard, upon the as- 
sembling of the Legislature, on the first Monday of January. Most of the banks 
in the State then represented to that body that they were in distress, by reason of 
the inability of their customers to take up their discounted paper; that they had 
very little specie in their vaults, and were unable to procure more, from the fact 
that the country had been drained to meet balances due abroad, upon an excessive 
import trade; that they could not redeem their bills in specie, and they requested 
the Legislature to protect them, in suspending specie payments, since they would 
otherwise be obliged to go into liquidation. The extension of unlimited credit to 
their customers by the banks, and all dealers in merchandise wholesale and retail, 
had been a characteristic feature of 1836, but this disclosure to the Legislature, in- 
formed all debtors that they had nothing more to expect from their creditors. The 
suspension of specie payments by the banks at Albany and New York, on the 10th 
of May, resulted in a terrible panic. The commotion, not confined to the great 
cities, was immediately felt in Auburn, and specie vanished from circulation in a 
moment. It was impossible for the banks here to withstand a pressure that had 
mastered the monetary institutions of the metropolis, and they accordingly ap- 
pealed to the people to sustain them in following the example of the banks in New 
York. The trustees of the corporation met at their room on the 12th, 
to consider what the times required them to do. Ninety-six merchants and 
business men of the town, having agreed to receive the bills of the Auburn banks at par 
at their stores, the trustees recommended the institutions to suspend specie payments, 
directing that their bills should be taken in payment of all village taxes, and pledging 
theresponsibilityof the village, for their ultimate redemption. A public meeting of 
the inhabitants was held at the town hall, the same day, and the citizens resolved 
to sustain the banks of the place, a committee, furthermore, being appointed to im- 
press upon the Legislature, the necessity of resti'aining the banks of the State 
from issuing one, two and three dollar notes, and to ask leniency for the action of 
the banks here in suspending redemption of their bills in specie. The committee 
was successful in its efforts, and suspension was granted for one year. The banks 
were aided in a measure by this action, but not materially the people, and during 
the month of May, the latter found themselves almost entirely deprived of any cir- 
culating medium of a denomination less than five dollars. This dearth of the 
means of making small change closed the door, for a time, upon all sorts of small 
dealings in family supplies, store trade, and the employment of wood choppers and 
tlay laborers. Wide-spread suffering in the village, among all classes, was the 
.'consequence, and business was almost suspended. In this emergency the trustees 
authorized the immediate issue of $8,000 in checks or notes of the size of one, two 
and three dollars, and sent them into circulation, retaining the funds arising from 
their sale, expressly for their redemption. Firms and corporations followed this 
example, and during the summer of 1837 it was estimated that four-fiftlis of the 
circulating medium in Auburn, then amounting to $200,000, consisted of these 
'' shinplasters," as they were called. The long continued pressure of the times and 
the scarcity of money, resulted in a ruinous depreciation of property. A part, at 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 29 

least, of the prosperity of Auburn was fictitious. Those who had invested tlieir 
fortunes largely in real estate, at high prices, were the first to feel the severity of 
the panic, and their property gradually lost its value, till, in many instances, it 
would bring no more than one-sixth of what it had cost, twelve months before. 
The reaction left capitalists helpless to save their investments — all lost large sums 
of money, and many made deplorable failures . Business was checked in all its de- 
partments, and a general reduction of expenses by the citizens followed, throw- 
ing large numbers of workmen and mechanics out of employment, causing the 
distress of the times to fall heavily upon the industrial classes. These occurrences 
gave the death blow to enterprise in Auburn, and all schemes requiring the outlay 
of large sums of money, became business impossibilities. 

The leaders in the generous movements for new avenues, boulevards and parks. 
in the project for the establishment of a college here, in the matter of canal navi- 
gation to the Susquehanna, and in a scheme for erecting certain woolen and flour- 
ing mills, on the outlet, became deeply involved in the general embarrassment, 
and though they struggled hard to maintain themselves, they were forced to give 
up all of these enterprises — except the railroad between Auburn and Syracuse, 
which had been projected soon after the opening of the Erie Canal, in 1835 — and 
extricate themselves from their business complications. The town was prostrated 
and for the next five years received scarce an accession to its population, in any 
other manner than by births. 

Business and travel upon the railroad to Syracuse began on the 8th of January, 
1838, the line having been finished to the Erie Canal, a distance of twenty-three 
miles from Auburn, and within two miles of the present terminus. The Auburn 
& Syracuse Railroad Company had been incorporated by an act of Legislature, 
passed May 1st, 1834, with an authorized capital of $400,000, but it began its ex- 
istence under very inauspicious circumstances. The construction of a railroad 
from Auburn to Syracuse was, from the broken nature of the ground over which a 
large part of it must necessarily pass, and from the retired and unfavorable loca- 
tion of Auburn, regarded in many places as an act of unspeakable folly. Sub- 
scriptions to the stock were accordingly slow, but the gentlemen at the head of 
the enterprise persisted in their efforts, and in spite of all impediments were en- 
abled to report on the 11th of Decembar that they had received subscriptions to 
the full amount of $400,003, of which sum $350,090 had been raised in Auburn 
and the immediate vicinity. The organization of the Company was effected on 
January 20th. 1836, and the surveys and examinations, preliminary to the location 
of the route of the road, were immediately made. The incorporation of the Auburn 
& Rochester Railroad Company, May 13th, with a capital of $2,000,000, and of 
other roads, making a complete connection between Albany and Buffalo, the same 
year, added wings to the building of the road to Syracuse, but its completion under 
the circumstances was highly creditable to the officers of the company. The im- 
pediments they had overcome, in laying the road, in paying their workmen during 
the hard times, in removing the incredulity of the public, and in surmounting the 
embarrassments of inexperience, were prodigious. The first excursion train to 
Syracuse left Auburn on January 8th, 1838, and was di-awn by horses. The sec- 
ond paHy of excursionists visited Syracuse, June 4, 1834, to celebrate the comple- 
tion of the road the whole distance, and this trip was made with an engine drawing 
the train. 

Among the great schemes of 1828-35, was one for building a dam, 38 feet in 
height, in the gorge of the outlet, about a mile from the lake, with a canal along 



30 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

the west bank of the stream, which was expected to make the lake navigable to the 
basin at the dam, where connection was to be made with the railroad, besides gain- 
ing the power of 700 horses for utilization by the manufactories below tlie dam. 
The Auburn & Owasco Canal Company was incorporated April 21, 1828, for the 
purpose. of carrying out this scheme, but failed to do anything, imtil June 1, 1835, 
when the company was reorganized, and proceeded to put the plans into execution. 
The coi-ner stone of the dam was laid on the 14th of October, 1835, with gi-eat 
ceremony, the entire village and surrounding country joining in the parade, which 
preceded the laying of the stone. The day was given over to festivity and enjoy- 
ment, as it was believed this dam and the canal was to confer the greatest benefit 
upon the place. The building of the dam was commenced without delay, and 
work was carried on, as the state of the outlet permitted, until 1839, when it had 
been erected to the height of 35 feet. Then the unwonted stringency of the times 
caused public interest in the matter to droop, while those who had embarked 
their private fortunes in the erection of the big dam, and the improvement of the 
water power of the outlet, having suffered heavy losses by the panic of 1837, were 
unable to carry the scheme forward to consummation. Movements looking to the 
construction of railroads through the productive grain and timber regions, which 
it had been expected to reach by navigation of the lake, appear to have re- 
moved the necessity for the last named measure. Leaving the big dam as it stood 
in 1839, therefore, the Canal Company sold its property along the outlet, and 
wound up its affairs, having indeed failed to accomplish the nominal end of its exis- 
tence, but having, nevertheless, performed a work to which the city of Auburn 
owes, in a large degree, its present prosperity. 

The three years beginning with the summer of 1839 were marked by a general 
monotony and dullness pervading all business and financial circles. Yet enter- 
prise did something toward repairing the wasted resources and trade of the place, 
and the railroad to Syracuse contributed, in no trifling degree, to restore the 
drooping courage of the merchants, and to accelerate the return of better times. 
The current of trade through the village was very large, and the detention of 
passengers here, arising from the necessary ti'ouble of shifting from the cars to the 
coach, or vice versa, was the means of dropping many a dollar into the coffers of 
the business men. The opening of the railroad between Rochester and Auburn, on 
the 4th of November, 1841, wrought the happiest results, and then the village be- 
gan to recover, although slowly, as yet, from the effects of the panic. 

The new vigor imparted to wool growing and the manufacture of woolen goods 
in America, by the tariff of 1842, and the consequent preparations for the erection 
of woolen factories in great numbers, in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 
interested the citizens of Auburn afresh, in 1844, in the long talked of, but unac- 
complished scheme of erecting a woolen factory here, and of putting into use some 
part of the vast and idle water power of the Owasco outlet. It was also beginning 
to be observed that the absence of a market for wool, in Auburn, was highly inju- 
rious to the interests of the town, and the wool growers of the county; and tliat 
thougli tliis ])laee was situated in the heart of a fertile and productive agricultural 
district, and by reason of its now easy access, immense water power, and facilities 
for building, was well adapted to become an extensive manufacturing town, 
that that end would never be attained, without the aid of enterprise, the erection 
of mills and the making of employment for the population. The advantages of 
the proposed factory were, therefore, laid before a few prominent citizens, and re- 
sulted, in 1844, in the formation of the Cavaiga Woolen Co., which, however, failed 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 31 

to accomplish its purpose. The movement was then allowed to stand a couple of 
years, but, in 1847, the Auburn Woolen Co. was organized in its place, and erected 
the mills, a history of which is given in another chapter under the title of the "Au- 
burn Woolen Co." 

Tlae worst effects of the panic had now been overcome, and the village was grad- 
ually assuming its old-time appearance of prosperity. The fire of 1837, which 
precipitated the panic, was in reality an advantage to Auburn, as it was time that 
the north side of Genesee street should be embellished with something of a higher 
order than a row of wooden shops. The opportunity was afforded, and was im- 
proved without delay, magnificent stone blocks soon appearing on the sites of the 
hitherto hideous structures. The year 1846, therefore, which gave to Auburn its 
first line of telegraph wire and the first daily newspapers, found it a more attrac- 
tive village, in a fairly prosperous condition, as may be inferred from the statement 
that its people were enabled to secure the holding here of the State Agricultural 
Fair. 



CHAPTER VII. 



History of Auburn. 



AUBURN CHARTERED AS A CITY— BRIGHTER DAYS AND RAPID 
PROGRESS— THE CITY IN 1869. 



ON THE 21st day of March, 1848, Auburn was chartered as a city, having 
then nearly 8,500 inhabitants. A charter election took place on the first 
Tuesday of April, at which Cyrus C. Dennis, a public spirited and ener- 
getic citizen, was elected the first Mayor. 

Eleven years had now passed since the crushing ordeal of 1837. The wounds of 
that disaster had healed slowly, yet but few disabling effects remained, and de- 
spondency and inertness had given place to hope and activity. Brighter days 
dawned upon Auburn, and the general despondency that had pervaded the town 
since 1837, and stagnated business of every sort, was now succeeded by an equally 
general reanimation. 

Laws to increase the usefulness and influence of the common schools were among 
the first important acts of the young city. Ordinances for the regulation and 
management of the schools were adopted on the 3d of August, 1850, which se- 
cured a thorough uniformity throughout the city of modes of instruction and 
text books, directed the separation of the sexes in the schools, and limited the 
school year to forty-five weeks, and prescribed the course of studies. They laid 
the foundation of that system of free education in Auburn, which, modified and 
improved from time to time, has now attained a perfection and usefulness not 
excelled in Western New York, and of which the city may be deservedly proud. 

That passion for the internal improvement and adornment of their town, which 
seems to have pervaded its citizens throughout its entire history, led, about this 
time, to the incorporation of anew Cemetery Association. The old cemetery on 



32 AUBURN, X. Y., ITS 

North street had. by the vicissitudes of over half .1 century, become crowded with 
graves of the dead, and more room for another cemetery was required. The great 
natural capabilities of the bold eminence known as Fort Hill, in the western part 
of Auburn, which, by reason of the Ix'auty of its groves, its prominence as a point 
of observation, and' the enchanting views of the villages and lakes of the county 
that might be caught from its top, seemed fitted by nature especially for this pur- 
pose. The Fort Hill Cemetery Association was accordingly incor])orated on tlie 
loth of May, 1851, and a conveyance of the hill being secured by the association, 
on the 25th of August, 1851, the grounds were enclosed. Having been partially 
cleared of rubbish, they were formally consecrated for the purpose of the burial of 
human remains, on July 7. 1852, and the work of improving the hill was then be- 
gun and has been continued until the grounds are surpassed by few c-emeteries in 
the country. 

Aubiu'n was now gaining the ground it had lost as a village during the few 
years previous to its admittance into the great sisterhood of cities, and the necessi- 
ties of its greater manufacturing interests caused the agitation of the subject of 
improving and developing the immense water power of the outlet, which had oc- 
cupied the minds of the mill ownei-s for full forty years. The top of the upper 
dam was a foot and a half below mean high water mark. The lake regularly dis- 
charged the surplus waters accumulated in the spi'ing, during that season and the 
summer, at a rapid rate, through an open outlet, and its surface fell, at the ap- 
proach of autumn, to the level of a sand-bar at its foot, when the flow nearly 
ceased. A period of five months, varying somewhat in length with, tlie season, 
was therefore, unfailingly brought around, when the current of the outlet became 
so sluggish and feeble as to be insufficient to di'ive the machinery of the manufac- 
tories at the dams fully, thereby causing many injurious interruptions and sus- 
pensions in manufacturing. The necessities of the Port Byron level of the Erie 
Canal also requii'ed that the flow of the Owasco should not fail in the dry season, 
and thus another interest arose, in the matter of improving the outlet, whose influ- 
ence aided materially in accomplishing the purpose. An act of Legislature, passed 
April 9th, 1853, appropriated $7,000 for the imprcu'euient of the outlet. Eight 
different plans were presented, for producing a more uniforni discliarge of water 
from the lake, and of increasing the flowage of the outlet, in the fall of the year. 
After a thorough examination of all plans, the Commissioners, appointed for the 
purpose, decided to open the channel of the creek, by clearing away all logs, flood- 
woods and debris, so as to give a four-foot flow ; to dig a channel through Hub- 
bard's Point, to the lake, four feet in depth and twenty-eight in width on the 
bottom, the sides being faced with stone; to excavate across the bar a similar 
channel, protected on either side by moles or banks, made from the earth and ma- 
terials taken out of the cuts, covered with stone as rip-rap, and provided at the 
outward end with piers for ice and water-bi-eaker ; to close the old cliannel with a 
bank, and to erect a flood gate near the junction of the new channel and the out- 
let. The nec&ssary right of way having been secured, work was immediately be- 
gun on the channel, the total length of which, from the verge of the sand bar to 
the outlet, was estimated at alKmt 2,380 feet. Of this, 1,020 feet were excavated 
in 1852-3, and 7G2 feet more in 1854. The State then appropriated $0,485 more 
toward the conijjletion of the work. The improvement, though then unfinished, 
was of extraordinary value to the State in 1854. The summer had been excessively 
warm and dry and many small streams utterly failed in the severity of the drought. 
To preserve continued navigation upon the State canals was a subject of the deep- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 33 

e^t perplexity, boats being frequently detained by low water, on some of the levels, 
and great losses resulting thereby, both to traders and the State. The Canal Com- 
missioners allude in their annual report to the Legislature in January, 1855, to the 
difficulty they experience of obtaining water at the Port Byron level. Having ex- 
hausted all the resei'voirs at their command, they then ordered the commissioners 
at Auburn to throw open the new cut, at the Owaseo lake, in order to relieve the 
canals. This was their last resource, and the channel in the sand bar being cut to 
maintain the supply, navigation was thus preserved uninterrupted. The Canal 
Commissioners finished the work on the outlet in 1855, with the aid of an addition- 
al appropriation of $10,000. Two features of the original design were not carried 
out, however. The raising of the surface of the lake, by means of a gate, three 
feet above low water mark, was abandoned, as was also the idea of closing the old 
channel above its junction with the new. An act of Api'il 5, 1857, authorized the 
Canal Commissioners to appropriate, whenever they chose, the upper dam on the 
outlet to the use of the State, and I'aise it to a height sufficient to effect all the 
purposes of a gate in the chaimel. This was never done by them in any permanent 
manner, but they caused the new channel to be deepened and enlarged and cleared 
of quicksand in a way which rendered the raising of the dam entirely unnecessary. 
This improvement of the Owaseo was of great advantage to Auburn, and 
marked progress was then yearly shown in every portion of tlie city. The break- 
ing out of the War of the Rebellion, in 1861, gave an impulse to business of all 
kinds that has been unparalleled in our history. Auburn not only furnished its 
full quota of defenders of the Union, but with the other cities and villages in the 
North, received an impetus to its trade and manufactures that has not yet been 
stayed. During the eight years between 1861 and 1869 the growth of the city 
equalled, if it did not surpass, the most excited period in its history as a village. 
New manufactories were established in great numbers, new business houses were 
opened, new Iniildings were erected in every part of the place, and its population 
almost doubled. Improvement succeeded improvement and the population of the 
city, which in 1865 was 12,567. had increased in 1869 to 15,000, exclusive of the 
inmates in the prison. Gas had been introduced in 1850, and in 1865 the water 
supply had been made equal to all demands by the adoption of the Holly system of 
water works. And thus it had become one of the most important cities in Central 
New York, with every indication of a continuance of its growth and prosperity. 
■ One of the enterprises that materially advanced the interests of the city during 
this period was the Merchants' Union Express Company, which was organized soon af- 
ter the close of the war. To no other class of business, probably, had the war given 
a more powerful stimulus than to the carrying trade, and the enormous profits 
m xde by the various Express companies awakened competition. It was then thought 
by some of the citizens of Auburn that an opportunity was offered to establish' 
with success, a new company, based somewhat upon the cooperative system of la- 
bor ; that, as the merchants of the United States were the principal patrons of the 
express, a plan which should unite them as stockholders in a business in which they 
themselves were the largest customers, would secure eminent success. Accordingly? 
in the spring of 1866, the Merchants' Union Express was organized with Elmore 
P. Ross, President; William H. Seward, Jr., Vice President; John N. Knapp, 
Secretary; William C. Beardsley, Treasurer, and Hon. Theodore M. Pomeroy, At- 
torney. The Executive Board consisted of Major General II. W. Slocum, Elmore 
P. Ross, Elliott G. Storke, William C. Beardsley, Clinton T. Backus, William H- 
Seward, Jr., and John A. Green, Jr. The Board of Directors was composed of C- 



34 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

B. Farwell, Clinton Briggs, Chicago; John Nazro, Milwaukee; T. D. McMillan, 
Cleveland; W. E. Schwertz, Pittsburg; Henry Lewis, T. A. Caldwell, Philadel- 
phia; Theodore M. Pomeroy, Auburn; John How, Barton Able, St. Louis; M. J. 
Mills, Detroit ; L. C. Hopkins, G. T. Steadinan, Cincinnati ; Aaron Brinkerhoff, 
J. Trumbull Smith, and W. A. Smith, of New York. The capital was placed nom- 
inally at $20,000,000, but the stock was to be assessed only to such an extent as the 
necessities of the business required. As was anticipated, the stock was speedily 
taken, and so great was the demand that the amount to be subscribed by a singl e 
merchant was limited, while the stock was distributed so thoroughly that the com- 
pany boasted of its ten thousand stockholders. Though hai'assed by its rivals on 
every side, and retarded by the magnitude of the undertaking, such was the energy 
displayed that on the first of October, 1866, the company was running its cars over the 
principal railways, and before the commencement of 1867 Aubui-n became the cen- 
tre of a net work of express lines which extended into every city and nearly every 
town of the Northern States. The number of persons in its employ exceeded three 
thousand, and the business done by the company became enormous. But owing to 
depressed rates of compensation, occasioned by the deadly competition with other 
lines, the losses were just as enormous. Indeed, tlie losses of the company were 
proportionately greater as the amount of business transacted was larger. Such a 
ruinous competition could not be sustained by either side, and after the capital of 
every company had been greatly impaired, a compromise was efifected. Although 
the losses were greatly diminished, it was found necessary, to ensui'e a profitable 
business, and even a continuance of existence, for the four companies who were at 
this time dividing losses and profits, to reduce to a still greater degree their ex- 
penses. To accomplish this, on the first of December, 1868, the Merchants' Union 
was consolidated with the American under the title of the American Merchants 
Union Express Company, and the grandest enterprise of which Auburn can boast 
virtually went out of existence. But it would not be too much to say that no other 
project has caused the name of Auburn to be so widely known or centred here so 
much of foreign interest. 

Auburn in 1869 contained, as has been previously stated, 15,000 inhabi- 
tants, of whom 18 were clergymen, 38 lawyers, 27 physicians, 35 teachers, 65 man- 
ufacturers, 85 bankers and capitalists, 200 retail dealers, 203 clerks, 190 carpen- 
ters and cabinet makers, 108 printers, 74 masons, stone cutters and quarrymen, 35 
produce dealers, 42 shoemakers, 55 blacksmiths, 2,130 mechanics and work- 
men, 450 operatives (girls and boys), and 300 sewing women. The number of 
buildings in the city was 3,154, of which 2.226 were residences (174 of the same hav- 
ing been built in 1868), 602 barns, 221 stores and shops, 13 churches, 7 banking 
houses, 41 mills and manufactories, 6 school houses, 6 wagon shops, 4 carpenter 
shops, 1 theological seminary, 2 concert halls, 6 hotels and taverns, 4 fire engine 
houses, 1 prison, 1 court house, 1 jail, 1 town hall, and 11 miscellaneous buildings. 
Two brisk dailies and five weeklies constituted the newspaper press. The area of 
the city was 3,600 acres, laid out with considerable though not entire regularity. 
Ninety or more streets subdivided its area into blocks, which, among the residences, 
were generally rectangular in shape, but in the business parts of the city polygons 
of every description. The residences were, for the most part, solid and elegant 
structures of brick and wood, while the business blocks were massive cut stone and 
brick edifices, generally four stories high. 

The growth of the city had been somewhat remarkable, and there were those 
among its citizens that contended it had at last attained its growth, but Henry 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 35 

Hall, in his "History of Auburn" (1869) said: "There is no appai-ont reason why 
Auburn should halt in her progress, till her population should exceed fifty thou- 
sand, nor why that result should not be attained within twenty years." And al- 
though the population of the city will not probably reach that figure in the period 
stated, its growth since has been such as to confirm the sound Judgment of the 
author when he gave expression to this hopeful opinion. 



CHAPTER VIIL 



History of Auburn. 



THE PROSPERITY FOLLOWING THE WAR OP THE REBELLION- 
THE REACTION OF 1873-THE DECADE FROM 1873 TO 1883. 



THE HISTORY of Auburn has thus been briefly sketched from its first set- 
tlement down to 1869, and but a very few pages will be required to com- 
plete the links in the chain connecting the past with the present. "The 
immense sums which were loaned and disbursed during the decade from 1862 to 
1872 for various purposes by the general government, the loyal states, counties, 
towns, cities, corporations, individuals and associations, have been estimated at 
ten thousand million dollars. This vast sum was rapidly distributed to the fami- 
lies of soldiers in bounties and wages, to producers of all kinds to supply the neces- 
sities and the waste of war, to laborers of all kinds engaged in the production of 
supplies, to manufacturers for whose production the demand exceeded the supply, 
to railroads and shippers, whose facilities for transportation were generally inade- 
quate, necessitating new roads and rolling stock, new boats and ships to meet the 
extraordinary demand. Every miner of coal, and every worker in iron or wood 
was constantly employed, as well as those engaged in the manufacture of fabrics 
and clothing. There was apparently no limit to the demand, and arrangements to 
supply it were constantly and largely augmented. Manufacturing centred in the 
villages and cities, wherein the demand for all sorts of laborers was constant, and 
to them they flocked from the country in crowds. Accommodations must of ne- 
cessity be provided in the villages and cities for the vast influx of population for 
whom buildings must be provided, and their erection in large numbers gave addi- 
tional activity to the already over-excited industries, and dwellings, stores and 
shops of all kinds were augmented in proportion to the increase of customers. 
The extreme demand for labor and all its products advanced theii- prices to rates 
hitherto unknown, and the liberal compensation made the laborers free purchasers 
and good customers of the several dealers, whose business was correspondingly 
large and profitable. These ten years brought a marvelous change in all cities 
and villages, and Auburn shared in the general change." 



36 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

The Southern Central Railroad * had been carapleted, giving additional and 
valuable transportation facilities; new manufactories had been established and the 
old ones enlarged ; a high rate of wages was paid the workmen and everybody was 
prosperous. And during this period the population and material wealth of Au- 
burn had doubled. 

Then came the panic of 1873. With increased wealth and prosperity, 
the habits of the citizens had also greatly changed and their average 
living expenses had more than doubled. Taxes had increased more than 
four fold, and to meet the large augmentation of expenses required a 
corresponding increase of receipts or a radical change of habits. When 
the reaction occurred in 1873, a sudden and general check was given to 
the recent business activity, followed either by a general stoppage or the 
unprofitable use of the wheels of industry, and throwing out of employment much 
of the labor hitherto fully employed and liberally rewarded. Few of that class had 
expected or were prepared for the emergency of enforced idleness. Although for 
years they liad received fully double the usual compensation, their current expendi- 
tures had, in nearly all cases, equalled their current receipts, and want and dis- 
tress immediately followed the stoppage of work. A rapid decline in property fol- 
lowed from the fabulous values of the ten years of inflation, and many fortunes 
were thus blotted out or largely diminished. 

But Auburn suffered much less from the reaction of 1873 than from that of 
1837, mainly for the reasons of the greatly increased wealth of its citizens, their 
less relative liabilities for works of public or private improvements and the gener- 
ally sound condition of the banking institutions of the country. True, in the first 
year or two following the panic, there was a general stagnation of trade, but the 
manufacturing interests of the city were now quite large and the demand for their 
products could not entirely cease, consequently a portion of the workmen, sufficiently 
large, at least, to keep business alive, were given employment during the dullest 
period. In the gradual recovery of the entire country from the effects of the panic 
Auburn was not slow in mending, and it was but a couple of years until its manu- 
factories were again employing the thousands of laborers that were suspended 
while the hard times prevailed. As all know, these few years of depression were 
in turn followed by a season of activity in all branches of trade; again the wheels 
of industry were (caused rajiidly to revolve and again the growth of Auburn was 
accelerated. 

The census of 1880 gave Auburn a population of 21,924, which, although not as 
large an increase as had been shown in previous decades, was probably larger than 
that made by niost Eastern cities of a comparative size during the decade from 
1870 to 1880. The increase shown in the past three years is more gratifying, and 
if maintained, will give Auburn in 1890 a population of 40,000; and there is no 
reason to doubt, from the influences now working, that this result will be accom- 
plished. 

The population of Auburn is now (March, 1884,) about 26,000, The city is well 
and economically governed, has an efficient police and fire department, an ajnplo 
supply of water, is lighted by gas and the electric liglit, and is, in a word, a model 

♦ The Soufhern Central Railroad Company wn^ orp;anizod on the 6th of September, 1S05, and 
was an outgrowth of the Lake Ontario, Aubnrn and New York Railroad scheme, which had been 
projected as early as 18.")2 The Southern Central road was CJmpletecI from the Seneca River to 
Owcgo jn the winter of 1809 70, and through careful ra-jnagemeut has become a successful rail- 
road. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 37 

manufacturing town, in which residence is most desirable and many advantages 
are offered for the successful establishment of other manufacturing euterpi'ises. To 
its manufacturers it is indebted for its latter growth and prosperity, and, therefore, 
it will joyfully hail the advent of all others. 



CHAPTER IX. 



The Theological Seminary, 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OP 
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OP CENTRAL AND WESTERN 
NEW YORK— ITS HISTORY. 



SITUATED on a commanding eminence in the north-eastern part of the city, 
the handsome buildings of the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian 
Church of Central New York, surrounded by beautiful grounds, line resi- 
dences and well shaded streets, attract universal attention and command the 
admiration of every visitor. This Seminary is a school for the education of can- 
didates for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, but the act of incorporation 
contains a proviso that no student of any Christian denomination shall be ex- 
cluded from a participation in the privileges of the institution on the ground of 
his religious persuasion. The first class of students for the ministry graduated 
from the Seminaiy in 1824, and since there has left the institution each year a 
class of young men well prepared for the work of preaching the gospel, until the 
aggregate exceeds a thousand. These have furnished pastors not only for the 
Presbyterian churches in Central and Western New Y'ork, but for the new States 
and Territones of the West and for missionary services abroad. While still in the 
Seminary the students engage in evangelistic work as far as possible: teaching the 
convicts in the State Prison, conducting Sunday schools and Bible classes and sup- 
plying feeble and destitute congregations in the neighborhood with the preaching 
of the gospel, consequently when they leave the institution they are thoroughly 
prepared for their labors in the field. 

About ten acres of ground, in the shape of a quadrangle, are occupied by the 
Seminary. The ivy-covered lime-stone building standing 6n the southwest corner 
of the quadrangle was the original Seminary building, erected in the years 1820-21. 
It consists of a central building with wings, and has a total frontage of 166 feet. 
The wings are three stories high. The seminary bell hangs iii a belfry surmount- 
ing the main building, from the promenade surrounding which an enchanting 
view of the city is obtained, the gorge of the outlet, the valley of the Owasco, and 
the outlying farms making a very pretty picture, the effect of which is heightened 
by Poi-t Hill "rising majestically over the city like an oriental hanging garden." 
As the number of students increased, a large transept was added to the west wing 
of this building for their accommodation, but this was taken down when Morgan 
Hall was erected. The cost of the old building was about $40,000, and it included 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 39 

a chapel and lecture rooms and accommodations for sixty or seventy students. 
Although plain and unornamental, the building was substantial, but it was im- 
perfectly provided with appliances for ventilation. As it faced north and south, 
the northern rooms received but little sunshine at any period of the year and were 
objectionable from their liability to cold and dampness. These inconveniences 
were remedied by the erection in 1874-5 of Morgan Hall, the beautiful and perfect 
building now used as a dormitory. This building occupies the west end of the 
quadrangle and is built of blue limestone, picked out with Medina sand-stone. It 
is five stories in height and faces east and west, so that every room has the benefit 
of the sun's rays during a part of the day. It is 216 feet in length and 45 feet in 
breadth, and provides accommodations for 76 students, each with a parlor and bed 
room. The stairways are broad and easy, and there is an elevator for raising bag- 
gage or other heavy material. The rooms are neatly funiished with everything 
necessary for the students' convenience, and the whole building is heated by steam 
and supplied with gas and water. For their use students pay the sum of $25 each 
year, and are subject to no other charge whatever for enjoying the advantages of 
the institution. Besides this, all students for the Presbyterian ministry whose 
circumstances require it are aided from the Seminary or other public funds to the 
amount of from $160 to $200 per year. The cost of Morgan Hall was about 
$100,000, three-fourths of which was the donation of Hon. Edwin B. Morgan, of 
Aurora, for whose son Alouzo Morgan, the building is named. The elegant Dodge 
and Morgan Library building, standing on the opposite or eastern side of the 
quadrangle was built in 1870-1, the corner stone having been laid on the fiftieth 
anniversary of the laying of the corner stone of the original Seminary building. 
Hon. W. E. Dodge, a liberal benefactor of the institution, having ofEered to furnish 
half the amount necessary for the erection of a fire-proof building for a library, 
Hon. Edwin B. Morgan accepted the offer, and the building was erected at a cost 
of about $40,000. It is constructed of the same kind of material as Morgan Hall 
and is arranged with shelves on the floors and galleries to hold 60,000 volumes. 
The library now consists of about 12,000 volumes, mostly theological, but many 
also critical, historical and philosophical. Jhese have been judiciously arranged 
by the libi-arian, with reference to subject and time, according to the method of 
many of the best European libraries. The great fac-simile of the Tischendorff 
Ms. of the New Testament (the Sinaitic Ms.), and the Abbe Mignes's splendid edi- 
tion of The Fathers (the Latin and Greek Patrologia,) in 400 volumes, are among 
the interesting features of the Library, which is freely open for the use of clergymen 
and citizens of every denomination. Several hundred volumes are added annually, 
but as the building is shelved for 60,000 volumes, many of the alcoves are still 
empty and suggest a splendid opportunity for generous benefactions. An individ- 
ual possessing the means and disposition to aid the cause of sacred learning could 
scarcely do better than adopt one of the vacant alcoves to bear his name and fill 
it with appropriate books, which in this elegant fire-proof building would remain 
a safe deposit to bless many coming generations. In addition to the aforemen- 
tioned buildings, the Seminary grounds include several dwelling houses occupied by 
members of the Faculty. 

For the early history of this institution we must go back to the fii'st 
and second decades of the present century. The first theological sem- 
inary in the United States was founded at Andover, Massachusetts, in 
1808. The Princeton Seminary, and Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 
were erected four years later, and the General Theological Seminary of 



40 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

the Protestant Episcopal Church was built at New York in 1817. The enormous 
expansion of the population of the country during this period was such that it was 
impossible to provide the new settlements, or even the old with religious teachers 
as fast as the times demanded. The Presbyterian church viewed the state of 
things in Western New York with some anxiety. Herg was a wide field for relig- 
ious work, and Colonel Samuel Bellamy, of Skaneateles, and Colonel John Link- 
laen, of Cazenovia, both prominent and active members of the Presbyterian church, 
as well as various others of the same persuasion, were led at different times to 
converse on the great deai-th of ministers in this part of New York, and finally, in 
1817, to suggest the erection at some convenient point of a new seminary of suf- 
ficient size to include a suitable academical course for preparation. The result was 
that, in January, 1818, the Presbytery of Cayuga, at its meeting in Auburn, re- 
solved that it was expedient to establish a theological seminary within the bounds 
of the synod of Geneva. During the following month (Feb., 1818) the subject of a 
theological seminary was overtured to the Synod of Geneva and the Rev. Wil- 
liam Wisner offered a motion that the Synod establish such an institution. Among 
the reasons given for the motion were: "the i*apid increase of the population of 
this part of the State ; the visitation of the Holy Spirit, by which churches were 
enlarged and multiplied ; the want of ministers, and the impractability of obtain- 
ing them in sufficient numbers from eastern institutions; and, that a rising people 
would be more likely to cherish a seminary within their own bounds than contri- 
bute to sustain siich as were comparatively beyond the reach of their knowledge 
and sympathy." The motion was received with surprise on the part of many 
members of the synod, and some oppositition was raised, but the synod a^^pointed 
a committee of which Rev. Mr. Wisner was chairman, to lay the subject before the 
next general assembly and secure the approval of that body. The assembly in re- 
ply to the application, simply replied that the synod were the best judges of what 
should be done on their own field in a matter of so much importance. The com- 
mittee, therefore, at a meeting held at Canandaigua during the following month, 
agreed to recommend to the synod the establishment of a seminary without an aca- 
demic department. The prevailing view had been in favor of a school which 
should provide for a short course into the ministry, combining theological with 
academical training, but this plan was abandoned and a purely theological school 
for men who had graduated at colleges was determined upon. The synod, after 
due discussion, adopted the report and resolved to establish immediately a theo- 
logical seminary. Auburn was determined upon as the site, provided that $35,- 
000 and an eligible lot of ten acres should be secured by the citizens of Cayuga 
county, previous to the next meeting of synod. At its annual meeting in the win- 
ter of 1819, the synod accepted the subscriptions made in fulfillment of the condi- 
tions on which Auburn was offered the site of the seminary, together with six acres 
of land donated by the heirs of Colonel John Hardenburgh and four acres secured 
from Glen and Cornelius Cuylcr, partly by gift and partly by purchase. 

Ground was broken for a building on the 80th day of November, 1819, and on 
the 11th of April, 1830, the charter, previously approved by the synod, passed the 
Legislature. On the 11th day of May, 1820, the corner stone of the seminary was 
laid with appropriate ceremonies. In a cavity in the stone, on a silver plate, were 
inscribed the following fitting woi'ds: "Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, 
elect, precious;" " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and forever." On the 
same silver plate were inscribed the names of Samuel Bellamy, to whom was given 
the honor of laying the stone, and of John Linklaen, ' ' both of whom were among the 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 41 

earliest Men Is of the i3 niixry, anl who53 joy in its foun litio;i s o i3 was analo- 
g )us to that of Simeon in b ^holding the infant savior of the w )rld." In pursuance 
of the act of incorporation the trustees and coinjnissionei-^i were organized on the 
13th of July following, and "from thii date the in^titu'rio:! laid aside its special re- 
lation to the synod of Ganeva, and became the abated chill of the Presbyterian 
Church of Central and Western New York." 

'J'he trustees were authorized to prosecute the w.rkof erec.ing tlie building; and 
the Commissioners, in hope of it? c:)m;iletioa in due timj and in order to allow pro- 
fessors elect opportunity to decide the question of duty, proceeded to the election 
of Rev. James Ricliards, of Newark, N. J., as professor of Christian Theology. 
This appointment, however, after several months' deliberation, was declined. In 
October, 1821, the following officers, previously chosen, were inaugurated: Rev. 
Henry Mills, professor of Biblical Criticism and the Oriental Languages; Rev. 
Matthew La Rue Perrine, professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Govern- 
in jnt; and Rev. Dirck C. Lansing, professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral The- 
ology. The chair of Christian Theology being vacant. Dr. Perrine, by request of 
the Board of Commissioners, assumed its duties in addition to those of his own de- 
partment. And at this time the Seminary went into operation with eleven stu- 
dents from four different States in the Union. 

The endowment of the professorship of Christian Theology in the sum of $15,- 
OKO by Arthur Tappan, of New York, enabled the governing board in 1828 to se- 
cure the acceptance of that chair by Dr. James Richards, thus making a full fac- 
ulty. Of its previous professors — Drs. Mills, Perrine and Lansing — Dr. Lansing 
served without salary and resigned in 1826, when it seemed to him that his services 
in the chair were no longer indispensable to the seminary, flis chair, that of Hom- 
ilotic?. p -oved difficult to fill, aijd was vacant most of the time for the next thirty 
years. Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox occupied it from 1835 to 1887 ; Dr. Baxter Dick- 
inson from 1839 to 1847; Dr. Joseph Fewsmith from 1848 to 1851; Dr. William 
Oreenough Thayer Shedd from 1852 to 1854; Dr. Jonathan Bailey Condit from 
1854 to 1873. being Emeritus Professor till his death in 1876; Dr. Herrick Johnson 
from 1874 to 1880 and Dr. xVnson Judd Upson from 1880 to the present time. 

In the Department of Biblical Criticism Profesor Mills remained until 1854, when 
he was succeeded by the present incumbent. Dr. Ezra Abel Huntington. Dr. 
Mills was Emeritus Professor until his death in 1867. 

Professor Perrine remained in the chair of Church History until his death in 
1833. His succjssjr was Dr. Luther Halsey from 1837 to 1844. The present pro- 
fessor, Samuel Miles Hopkins, took the chair in 1847. 

Professor Perrine gave instruction in theology until the coming of Professor 
Richards. The latter died in 1846. Dr. Lawrens Perseus Hickok was Professor 
of Theology from 1844 to 1852, and Dr. Clement Long from 1852 to 1854. 
Dr. Edwin Mall filled this chair from 1855 to 1876, being Emeritus Professor till 
his ileath in 1877, and was succeeded by Dr. Ransom Bethune Welch in 1876. 

In 1867, the duties of professor of Biblical Ch-iticism were divided by the erec- 
ti(m of the Department of the Hebrew Language and Literature. The Rev. James 
Edward Pierce occupied the chair from its establishment until his death in 1870, 
and, in 1871, was succeeded by Dr. Willis Judson Beecher. 

The aggregate number of the students, including those now in the Seminary, is 
somewhat more than 1250. In its management and teaching the Seminary has al- 
ways been strictly Presbyterian. Originally its course of study, its matriculation 
pledge, the declaration subscribed to by its professors, and other like matters, were 



42 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

closely modeled after those of Princeton Seminary, and there has never been any 
change in the direction of a departure from the standard of the Presbyterian 
church. The "Auburn Declaration" is famous among the landmarks of Ameri- 
can Presbyterian orthodoxy. A very large majority of all the Auburn students 
have entered the ministry of the Presbyterian church, but a large number have al- 
so been Congregational ministers, and smaller representatives are to be found in 
the Reformed, the Episcopalian, the Methodist, the Baptist and other churches. 

The early financial history of the seminary was largely a history of struggles. 
During the second year of its existence a falling off in the number of students oc- 
curred, and its pecuniary state became alarming. This crisis was met by the timely 
gift of $15,000 for the establishment of the Chair of Theology by Arthur Tappan, 
of New York, as previously stated. In 1854-5 the seminary was virtually closed, 
in part for pecuniary reasons, but with the reorganization of the faculty which 
followed, a period of greater prosperity begun. At the time of the building of Mor- 
gan Hall, $80,000 were, by special effort, added to the endowment fund, and other 
generous gifts have since been received. Large as the endowment is, however, it 
is mostly devoted to specific purposes, designated by the donors, so that the man- 
aging board are in great need of funds for general ordinary purposes. 



CHAPTER X. 



The Auburn Prison. 



A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THIS CELEBRATED PENAL INSTI- 
TUTION—THE STATE ASYLUM FOR INSANE CRIMINALS. 



THE earlier growth and prosperity of Auburn was largely owing to the loca- 
tion here of the State Prison for Western New York, and an important 
benefit has always accrued to the city from the large sums anuually ex- 
pended by the institution for salaries and supplies. The act authorizing the erec- 
tion of the Auburn prison was passed April 13, 1816, and foundations for the stone 
inclosure were put under way immediately. Tlie excavations for the foundation of 
the south wall hiid bare, it is said, an Indian graveyard, from which large quanti- 
ties of human bones were exhumed by the workmen, as well as fragments of pot- 
tery and kitclion utensils. The southeast corner stone of the wall was laid June 
28th, and $20,000 were expended the first season on the work. The erection and 
inclosure of the main building, and the carrying up of the outside wall to the 
height of four fc.>t, were the results of 1810. By the winter of 1817 the south wing 
was in readiness for the ro;:eption of criminals, of whom fifty-three were then re- 
ceived from the jails of adjacent counties to aid the work of construction. Eighty- 
seven more were received in 1818 for the same purpose, and during this year the 
State Commissioners on construction ti'ansferred the government of the jirison to a 
Board of Inspectors appointed by the Jjegislature, consisting of Hon. Elijah Mil- 
ler, Hon. John H. Beach, James Glover, Archy Kasson, and George Casey. Wil- 



FACULTIES AND RESOURCES. 43 

Ham Brittin was by this board appointed the first agent and keeper of the prison. 

Authority for the employment of convict labor in building the prison was confer- 
red on the State Commissioners in April, 1817, both to relieve the crowded jails 
and to save the wages of free workmen. The practice was, however, a source of 
annoyance frojn the start. The criminals having unrestniined intercourse with the 
workmen and mechanics, notwithstanding the presence of the guards, infected 
them with sympatliy lor tne panijhment and privations the former were endur- 
ing and le.: to the most turbulent an I riotous actions on the part of both. An in- 
cident of the spring of 1821 exhibits the extent of the evil alluied to. It having 
become necessary to punish three disobedient convicts by whipping, and the keep- 
ers refusing to perform the repulsive task, a blaccsmicn by tlio name of Thomp- 
son vv-as, one Saturday eve, Cdlle I in t ) do cne work. Ad wnipped the men, was 
paid for the job, and theii left the prison for his home in the valley. As he passed 
through the prison gate he was seized by a crowd of furious laborers, tarred from 
head to foot, and borns througn the streets astride a rail. The ringleader of the 
mob, with a hen under his arm. walked by the side of the unfortunate Thompson, 
.•'.nd plucking haudiuls of leathers from the screaming fowl, stuck them to the 
blacksmith's tarry cj:'.t. i'nis shocking affair was condignly punished as a riot. 
On the otiier hanu the convicts, stimulatei by this outside sympathy, learned to be 
rebellious, transgresse.i the rulco of the shop at every opportunity, set fire to 
the l)uii(iings aim (lest-oyed their work whenever they dared. Fearful insurrec- 
tions in other prisons were not then uncommon; and the citizens of Auburn were, 
at this stage of the case, oppressed with the fear that they might be called on to 
encounter an irruption of criminals into the town. This sense of insecurity 
among the citizens resulted in the organization of the prison guard, (afterward 
known as the Auburn Guard,) in 1820, which was armed and equipped by the 
State, and provided with an armory in the upper story of the stone building built 
upon and within the front wall of the prison, in the northern part, to which en- 
trance was had from the street by means of a staircase. The eflicient conduct of 
this corps in times of danger, and especially during the burning of the north wing 
of the prison in November, 1820, when it was called upon to march the convicts to 
their cells at the point of the bayonet ; and increased discipline in the prison itself, 
soon removed every apprehension in Auburn of the convicts breaking out and mak- 
ing a descent upon the village. The malice of the prisoners, however, led to an- 
other precautionary measure, ^. e., the formation in the same year of a fire com- 
pany among the citizens, attached to the prison. The engine which this company 
used was purchased by the State and was kept in the lower story of the prison 
armory, a door, since walled up, being then opened through the outside wall to 
enable citizens to use the machine whenever necessary to suppress fires in the vil- 
lage. 

The prison went rapidly forward till 1828, when the massive main hall and wings, 
extensive wooden workshops, and an inclosing stone wall twenty feet high, had 
been completed, at a cost of $400,000. " Copper John," made in Auburn by John 
D. Cray, surmounted the pinnacle of the central building. The north wing, which 
had been fashioned to effect the solitary and silent confi:ie.nent of the prisoners, 
upon the plan devised by Mr. Brittin, then contained one hundred and eighty-five 
cells only. These cells were seven feet long, the same high, three and a half 
feet wide and were separated by walls of solid masonery one foot thick ; they were 
each provided with a ventilator and secured by strong, iron-bound wooden doors, 
with grated openings. They were arranged in a block five stories high — access to 



44 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

the different stories being had by stairs and galleries running along the face and 
sides of the block — standing within an inclosed building, which it touched only at 
the roof. An area ten feet wide lay thus between the cells and outer walls, the 
patrols posted on which were enabled to detect the slightest movements of the 
prisoners and foil all theii- attempts to escape or to communicate with each other. 
The south wing was not, in 1828, much used. It contained a large number of 
rooms, holding from two to twenty men each, but upon completion of the north 
wing, the men were all taken out and subjected to solitary confinement in that 
wing, and the other fell into disuse, and was subsequently rebuilt on the new plan. 
An enlargement to the prison grounds was made necessary in 1834 by the growth 
of the institution. In Mav of that year the title to twelve acres and a fraction of 
the land lying between Factory (now Wall street) and the outlet west of the pris- 
on buildings, was acquired by the State, and soon after an area 500 feet square was 
inclosed and shops built upon it. Further improvements and erections were added 
to the prison froni time to time until it attained its present massive proportions. 

The change from iijdiscriminate confinement was made for the first time in 
America at the Auburn prison. The ijjain building and south wing, which were 
finished in 1818, contained sixty-one double cells and twenty-eight apartments, 
holding from ten to twenty each, jnto which the convicts were put as fast as they 
arrived. Women were also received here from the first, and they were confined in- 
discriminately in a large room in the south wing. Workshops had been erected in 
1819-20 and the men were employed in them at custom work. The north wing be- 
ing constructed on the plan previously described, permitted the locking up of the 
convicts at night in sepai-ate and solitary cells, between which there was no chance 
of communication without the certainty of detection and punishment, and from 
which it was impossible to escape. This change was accordingly made early in 1831, 
and separation at night was attended with hard labor during the day in large 
shops, in a compulsory silence that was maintained by the presence of vigilant 
keepers who were empowered to inflict lashes for every offense against order or the 
rules. Upon the death of William Brittin, the first agent of the prison and the 
designer of the arrangement of solitary cells, in 1831, Captain Elam Lynds, a vet- 
eran of the war of 1813, who had lent his aid to the perfection of the new system, 
gucceeded to that position. Captain Lynds was a soldierly man and a strict disci- 
plarian, and it was he who introduced the plan of marching the convicts to and 
from the shops, (invented by John D. Cray,) in single files with the lock step. He 
encouraged the use of the whip to maintain a i)erfect submission to the rules, and 
took every step allowed by law to make the uistitution a terror to evil doers.. 
Among other things he substituted the practice of serving the convicts' meals in 
theii- cells for the previous custom of marching them to a common mess-room and 
giving them their rations there. This change created discontent among the men, 
as at the common tabU; they often shared their food with each other, thus equaliz- 
ing the wants of large and smaU eaters. They could not do this in the cell sys- 
tem, and suffered from hunger. All complaints made in consequence were an- 
swered with the argument that the crimes of the convicts deserved the severest 
punishment, which it was not their keeper's business to mitigate. 

The classification of criminals was a nu^asure also authorized in the spring of 
1831, in imitation of the plan pursued by the authorities of a Phihi(leli)hia prison. 
The criminals were to be separated into three classes, with different degrees of pun- 
ishment. The most dangerous and impenitent, those particularly who were serv- 
ing out a second or third sentence, composed the first class, which was doomed 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 45 

to constant confinement in silent and solitary cells, with no companion but their 
own thoughts and, if the keeper saw fit to allow it, their Bible. The second class 
was to be selected from the less incorrigible offenders and alternately placed in soli- 
tary confinement and allowed to labor as a reci-eation. The third afid most hope- 
ful set was to be permitted to work out the sentence of hard labor by day and se- 
clusion by night, as had previously been the case with all. The second and third 
classes, however, were united as a third class. The separation of the first class 
from the body of the convicts took {)lace on Christmas day of 1821. P^ighty-three 
of the most hardened prisoners were committed to silence and solitude in cells 
where they might neither see nor hear any but distant and chance occurrences, and 
where they were never visited except by the physician or chaplain, or by a con- 
vict bearing the stated meal. The punishment of these men was dreadful, and in 
less than a year five of the eighty-three had died, one became an idiot, and another, 
when his door was opened for some chance purpose, dashed himself headlong from 
the gallery into the fearful area below. The balance, iJvith haggard looks and de- 
spairing voices, begged pitifully to be taken back to the shops and set to work. 

The Assembly of New York in 1824 appointed Samuel H. Hopkins, George Tib- 
bits, and Stephen Allen to consider the whole subject of punishment and prisons 
in the State, and report suitable amendments to the existing system, for the consid- 
eration of the Legislatui'e. The committee spent the ensuing summer in the task, 
during which it sent Captain Lynds off to New England to look up and study the 
prison systems prevailing in that region and ascertain their advantages. The com- 
mittee's report was laid before the Legislature in January, 1825. and contained sev- 
eral important suggestions, chief among which was a recommendation for the re- 
peal of the solitary confinement law, based upon the injurious effects of such con- 
finement on its subject. The expense of maintaining the convicts in idleness was 
another important consideration, and the committee therefore urged that every 
convict should be employed at hard labor for the sake of both economy and health. 

The Legislature accordingly sent the inmates of the solitary cells back to work and 
the famous Auburn system, which has made it and this city celebrated through- 
out the world, then began to receive a careful trial. As the State could not, with 
advantage, or without exciting the dangerous cry of monopoly, manufacture on its 
own account, it was contrived that the labor of the convicts in the state prisons 
should be leased to contractors, who shoiild pay therefor a reasonable and stated 
sum. The convicts at first performed custona work, but in 1821 the first contract 
in the Auburn prison had been let to Samuel C. Dunham, who took five men and 
began the manufacture of tools. Between this time and 1828 contracts were let 
for a cooper shop, tailor shop, shoe shop, machine shop, hame shop and cabinet 
shop. The introduction of the contract system was attended with considerable 
embarrassment. The increased discipline of the pris )n necessary to prevent con- 
victs maliciously spoiling their work was distasteful to the public, and the competi- 
tion between convict and free labor was still more so, all who employed it losing 
popularity. The whole system of convict labor, thei'efore, fell into disrepute, 
which lasted nearly twenty years. 

The outside public, influenced by distoi'ted and exaggerated accounts of the cru- 
elties practiced in the prison, became much excited, and the influence of the popu- 
lar sentiment penetrated the thick walls of the prison itself and led to the positive 
refusal of some of the officers to inflict upon certain convicts the punishment de- 
manded of them. This humanity was, however, exceptional; the rule being a 
ready compliance on the part of subordinates, with the exactions of their supei'i- 



46 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

orj. In December, 1825, a female convict died, as was alleged, from the effects of 
brutal whipping, leading to the appointment of a legislative committee of in- 
vestigation, which resulted in a change in the agency of the prison. Gershom 
Powers then became the agent, and taking the middle ground between the extremes of 
bnity and severity, the prudence and wisdom of his administration won popular 
approval, while the discipline and efficiency of the prison was fully maintained. 
The practice of admitting visitors to the j^rison was encouraged, avenues being so 
arranged that visitors could pass around the entire establishment without being 
seen, and look down, through openings in a partition wall, upon the operations of 
the shops. Two benefits were claimed for this — a satisfaction of the public suspi- 
cion and a secret scrutiny of the interior affairs of the prison, the latter leading to 
a more faithful discharge by subordinates of their duties. . Mr. Powers was elec- 
ted to Congress in the fall of 1838, and the prison for the ten years from 1838 to 
1838 was very satisfactorily managed by Levi Lewis and John Garrow. At this 
latter date Captain Lynds, to the great surprise and indignation of the people, was 
again appointed agent. He at one 3 signalized his advent by the introduction of 
very obnoxious changes. The table system of feeding the convicts was abolished, 
and he even took from them knives and forks, compelling them to eat with their 
Angers. The indignatiim of the people was kindled ; public meetings were held ; 
the board of inspectors were besieged with petitions and remonstrances and Cap- 
tain Lynds was indicted by the Grand Jury for inhumanity. The excitement was 
aggravated by the suffocation of a prisoner, who could not, under the new order of 
things, satisfy his hunger, and who, in a hasty attempt to steal and swallow a piece 
of meat, was strangled. The public was not to be withstood and Captain Lynds 
resigned as well as some of the inspectors. Dr. Noyes Palmer took the post of 
agent on March 9, 1889, and renewed the table system of feeding, settling, thereby, 
fi'om that date, a vexatious question. The use of the " cat-o-nine-tails " was also 
abolished about this time, in consequence of the death, from whipping, of a con- 
vict who, it was claimed, had feigned sickness to avoid labor. The excitement 
which grew out of it led to the substitution of the shower bath, yoke, paddling and 
other forms of punishment. 

Popular opposition to convict labor at Auburn, as well as other prisons, has al- 
ways caused more or less discussion of the subject, and it is yet far from settle- 
ment. This opposition sprang up with the origin of the institution among the 
mechanics of Auburn and other villages, who dreaded, and did actually at the very 
flr.st, suffer a loss of their business. The cooper, shoe, tailor and cabinet shops, as 
early as 1835, injured a large number of industrious mechanics in Auburn, and 
obliged many of them to embark in new modes of earning a support. In justice 
to the tradesmen, various attempts were made to protect their interests, but the 
State could not afford to sustain prisoners in idleness, nor could mechanics with- 
stand the competition. A resolution, therefore, passed the Legislature in 1885 di- 
recting the agent here to report on the probability and i)rofit of carrying on in the 
prison the manufacture of such articles as were then furnished to the Uuited 
States exclusively by importation. The manufacture of one such article (silk) was 
authorized definitely. John Garrow, then agent of the prison, did not see fit to 
commence the business, however, and the matter rested till 1841. In May of that 
year Henry Polhemus, the successor of Mr. Garrow, began the silk business as an 
experiment, and resolved to give it a fair and impartial examination. He did so, 
and the test was continued for three or four years, the immber of men employed 
in the silk shop at one time ranging as high as forty, but the pursuit proved to be 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 47 

unrenuinerative and was abandoned. By 1845, however, it was believed the ne- 
cessity for any legislative protection had jiassed, and that the mechanic interest 
had adjusted itself to the situation and was no longer ranged in opposition to the 
" economical and reasonable system of the Auburn prison." It then went into un- 
molested operation, and to the present day agents of all grades of ability, of differ- 
ent temperaments, and of all political creeds have conducted the Auburn prison 
with unvarying success, achieving for its peculiar principles a lasting fame. 
Twenty States or more have adopted the Auburn system in their prisons, and vari- 
ous foreign nations have erected establishments in close imitation to them. No 
system more economical has yet been discovered, nor has any been found which, 
when well carried out, better answers the great end of punishment. Nevertheless 
the subject is now again receiving legislative attention and the result cannot be 
foreshadowed. 

The Auburn prison is situated on the west side of State street, bordering the 
Owasco outlet on th? south and Wall street on the north, and is arranged in the 
form of a parallelogram, one thousand feet from east to west, with a breadth of 
five hundred feet. The stone walls surrounding the prison buildings, which are 
all stone and brick structures, vary from four to five feet in thickness, and on State 
street are fourteen feet - eight inches high; on Wall street they vary from 
twenty to twenty-six feet ; the west wall from twenty-eight to thirty-one feet; 
sou^h wall, inside, thirty feet six inches, outside, thirty-five to fifty-one feet. The 
walls are surmounted by a wide stone coping, bordered by an iron hand-rail, and 
on this coping during the day the guards patrol over designated sections, bearing 
loaded rifles. The central building, fronting State street, is 387 feet wide and 56 
feet high. It is occupied by the office of the agent and wsirden, the clerk and the 
superintendent, the dwelling for the warden and the main and keepers' hall. The 
workshops and interior buildings are arranged in the form of a hollow square, in- 
closing a spacious courtyard, in which are walks and drives leading to the several 
shops. The , interior shops and buildings are separated by a driveway from the 
outer walls, and the cells occupy the intermediate space in both wings, facing to- 
ward the outer walls which are supplied with windows affording light and the 
means of ventilation. The cells are constructed of solid masonry and are three 
feet eight inches wide, seven feet long and seven feet in height. From each cell 
ventilating tubes extend to and connect with pipes in the roof, effecting thorough 
ventilation. There are 830 cells in the north wing and its extension and 442 in the 
south wing — a total of 1272 cells — which are arranged in five tiers, access being 
obtained by galleries. The mess-room is 67 x 110 feet in dimension, with a seating 
capacity for 1,243, and the chapel is of the same size and capacity. Ample ar- 
rangements have been perfected for extinguishing fires and the sanitary condition 
of the prison is excellent. 

The convict's life begins with an entry upon the books of the prison of his 
name, age, nativity and occupation. The physician examines him, recording his 
full description, and robed in a striped suit, he is then shaven and shorn and con- 
ducted to his cell. Assigned to a trade, he at once loses his individuality in the 
workshops. The daily routine of the prison begins at dawn by the gathering of 
the keepers and guards in the keepers' hall, from which at a given signal, they pro- 
ceed to the galleries and walls and prepare to open the prison. The guards that 
have kept watch during the night in the whitewashed halls retire. A bell wakes 
the men, and the keepers, passing through the galleries, unlock the cells of the 
e ).np my which they severally command. As they return down the galleries they 



48 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

unlatch the doors in order ; the prisoners throw open the doors as the keepers 
pass, step out, and fall intt) their place in the long file, forming in the area. After 
breakfast in the mess room, at tables so arranged that the men all look i:i o.ie 
direction, in order that they may not exchange either signs or words, they are 
marched to the shops and employed at hard labor during the day under the super- 
intendence of the contractors or their employes, the keepers being always present. 
Half an hour is allowed for dinner. No conversation or intercommunication i< 
allo-wed between the prisoners except by special permission, and then only in the 
presence of a keeper. The men are thus completely isolated and friend^ 
sometimes work for months in the same biailding, without a suspicion 
of the fact. At the approach of night the consnets are marched di- 
rectly to their cells, in which they are safely secured before the gath- 
ering shades of evening make it possible for any to secrete them- 
selves and escape. On Sunday there is religious instruction to such converts as 
choose in the chapel. Divine service is also held there and those that desire may 
draw books fi-om the large prison library. Offenders against good order are pun- 
ished according to their extent, the Superintendent of Prisons being at liberty to 
employ any method of discipline which he may deem best, but severe physical 
discipline is very seldom required. The prevailing sentiment among the convicts 
is strongly in favor of good order as the best means of seciii-ing their own c iinfort 
and lessening their terms of confinement. 

For twenty-eight years, from 1818 to 1840, the control and manage.neat of the 
prisons was invested in a board of five local inspectors, appjinte I for twj yeirs 
by the Senate, on the nomination of the Governor. These inspsjetors appjinte 1 
all the subordinate officers of the prisons, and directed their general management. 
By the Constitution of 1846 this plan of government was changed and the prisons 
of the State were placed in charge of three state inspectors, !ioldi:ig 
their offices for three years, one of whom annually retired and a successfir 
was chosen. Grave abuses in the management of tlio prisons led the 
Legislature, in 1870, to appoint a committee of i iVc>stigition t) proLo 
to the bottom the prison affairs of the State. The ranilt Wd> a ehan^j in the 
Constitution providing that the care of the prisons should be confided to one supei- 
intendent, who was to appoint the wardens, physicians and chaplains, (removable 
at bis pleasure) ; the eompti-ollor appointed the clerk and ti.e several wardens ap- 
pointed the subordinates in their respective prisons and were held responsible 
for the internal administration. This plan worked admirHhly and the government 
of the prisons since has been very satisfactory. 

The number of officers now in ch:u'ge of Auburn prison is 01, viz. : One agent 
and warden, (John S. Lanehart). one pliysician. (Lyman C. Congdon), one clia[>- 
lain. (Rev. William Searls). one clerk, one j)iineipal keejier, one store keeper, one 
kitchen keeper, one hall keej)er, one ya"d master tuid engineer, thirty-two keepers, 
one sergeant of the guard, and nineteen guards. 

THE STATE ASYLUM FOR INSANE CRIMINALS 

This institution is located in the rear of and adjoining the prison. 
and occupies a tract of land containing about eight acres, fronting on 
Wall street and enclosed on all sides by a stone wall twelve feet high. 
The original structure was commenced in 1837, and opened for the recep- 
tion of patients February 2, 1859. It then comprised a center or administration 
building, with a wing on either side for patients, accommudating about forty cacli. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 49 

An additional wing was subsequently attached to the west end of the building, 
making the total capacity of the asylum 160. The front of tlie building was then 
of stone and the rear of brick, the whole presenting an imposing structure, con- 
sisting of a central building, 44x60 feet, three stories and a basement, with wings 
on either side, 120 feet in length, and terminating in their extremities in 
a transept 66 x 25 feet. The wings and transepts had each two stories 
and a basement. In 1873, an enlargement was commenced, being a con- 
tinuation of the hJouth transept of the west wing, except that it was 
wider. It is ab )ut 100 feet long and terminates in a transept, which is 
about 75 feet in length, corresponding in external appearance to the original 
structure. It e.)mprises three stories, in the lower one of which are located the pa- 
tients' kitchen employes, dining-room, store rooms, &c., and a small ward for 
working patients. On the first floor of the central building are located the offices, 
reception room and dispensaiy ; the second and third floor coinjirise the superin- 
tendent's apartments, and the basement is occupied for a business office, waiting 
rcora, kitchen, &c. The wings and transepts are set apart entirely for the use of 
patients. In the rear of the central building and connected with it by a corridor, 
is a two story brick structure, t)0x40 feet, in the lower story of which are located 
the bakery and dormitories for the employes who are not occupied in the wards; the 
btcond story contains the chapel, serving room, store room for goods and the 
officers' quarters. The outbuildings, excepting the coal shed, are of brick, and 
comprise a laundry, boiler house, repair shop, meat and ice house, barn and wagon 
house, green house and piggery. 

The institutioti was created as an asylum for insane convicts and received only 
that class of patients up to 1869, when its corporate name was changed by the 
Legislature to that of "State Asylum for Insane Criminals," the object of the 
change being to provide for the confinement therein of an additional class, name- 
ly, the criminal insane, i. e. "persons accused of arson, murder, or attempt at 
murder, who shall have been acquitted on the ground of insanity." By the same 
act, provision was made whereby persons of this class could be transferred to this 
institution from the other asyh'ms of the State, 

The institution was an experiment, being the first and only one of the kind then 
or now in the United States. Its present standard, as a hospital for the criminal 
insane, not only proves its utility, but has demonstrated the complete success of 
the experiment. Its scope and aim is the protection of society from the violence 
of dangerous lunatics, the relieving of the inmates of ordinary asylums from con- 
tact with objectionable associates, and, at the same time, to secure kind care and 
proper treatment for the insane of the criminal class. 

The buildings used for the confinement of insane convicts are in the same general 
inclosure as the prison proper, to the west of which they are located, being separ- 
ated therefrom by a high wall. The grounds surrounding them are beautifully 
laid out and are adorned with trees and shrubbery. 



50 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 




VIEW OF STATE ARMORY AT AUBURN. 



CHAPTER XI. 



The Wheeler Rifles. 



THE STATE ARMORY AND THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION OCCU- 
PYING IT — THE SECOND SKPARATE COMPANY, 7TII BRIGADE, 
4TII DIVISION. N. G. S. N. Y. 



TIIK Stall' Armory, on Water street, between <Iie New York Central liailroad 
and State street, is one of the finest buildings in the city, and is occupied 
by the Wlieclcr Rifles, or Second Separate Company, 7th Brigade, 4th 
Division, N. G. S. N. Y. This building, an excellent view of which is present- 
ed on this page above, is 125 feet in length, 80 feet wide and 80 feet high, with 
a tower on the southeast coi-nei-, 120 feet in height. It is built of Cayuga C'ounty 
limestone and is finished in ash. It was erected during the years 1871-2-::3 at a cost of 



facilitie:. axd resources. si 

about $80,000, the contractors being Messrs. Ocob.ick & Sisson, (masonry,) and 
Mr. James C. Stout, (woodwork,) of Auburn. Upon its eo:npleti;)ii the armory 
was occupied by the 49th Regiment, but owing to caus?; uinsee^nry here to men- 
tion, this regiment was tlisbanded in September, 1880, and for a short time tlie 
armory was unoccupied. Captain W. M. Kirby had been in cammand of the 49th 
Regiment, and had made the application for its disbandment, but soon after the 
regiment was disbanded he set on foot a movement for the organization of a new 
military company to be composed of the choicest material. The armory was about 
to fall into the hands of the G. A. R., when, by the most judicious efforts, the 
necessary complement of men was secured and arrangements made for mustering 
in the company which was to retain this elegant building as a military post, and 
on the,24th day of May, 1881, the National Guard of the State was increased by 
as fine a body of men as ever appeared in its ranks. 

The new company, while recognized in the National Guard as the "Second Sep- 
arate Company, 7th Bridgade, 4th Division," adopted the independent name of tlie 
Wheeler Rifles, in honor of C. Wheeler, Jr., a highly respected citizen and the 
present Mayor of the city. The officers of the Wheeler Rifles were, Captain, W. "M. 
Kirby ; First Lieutenant, Frank H. Griswold ; Second Lieutenant, Henry S. 
Dunning : First Sergeant, Fred A. Wright; Quarter Master Sergeant, Charles H. 
Carpenter ; Sergeants, George H. Nye, Francis Vincent, Willard G. Cowell, Sam- 
uel L. Bradburn : Corporals, George E. Congdon, George W. Nellis, John D. 
Murray, C. James Barber, Willard H. Olmsted, Fred A. Smith, Burt A. Ferris. 
Isaac W. Haight. The company numbered about GO members, and was composed 
principally of young business men of the best social standing. During the three 
years of its existence the company has made an enviable record and is now recog- 
nized as one of the finest military organizations in the State. There are forty-two 
separate companies in the N. G. S. N. Y., among which the Sixth Separate Com- 
pany of Troy ranks first in the annual report of the Adjutant General, for the 
year 1882, and the Second (or Wheeler Rifles) ranks next, with but very little dif- 
ference in the percentage of the two companies, despite the fact that at the encamp- 
ment (on the inspection at which this report was based,) the Second •vScparate 
Company was handicapped by a larger number of men than is desirable to obtain 
the best results in military manoeuvres, and these raw recruits, while the other com- 
panies which had obtained high rank were composed largely of veterans in the late 
war and in the National Guard. 

The Wheeler Rifles Armory is probably the most desirable building for the pur- 
pose in the interior of the State. When assigned to this company, the interior was 
found to have become, from neglect, rather dilapidated and uninviting, but the 
work of renovating was immediately begun and soon the building assumed the 
neat, clean and inviting appearance for which it has since become celebrated. 
The first floor contains the company headquarters, the squad rooms, a band room, 
armorers' and janitor's rooms and a card room. The company is divided into four 
squads, and each squad is assigned a room, the furnishing of which devolves upon 
the squad. These rooms are 16x21 feet in dimensions, witli high ceilings and are 
arranged to accommodate 25 men, eacli with a double locker for clothes and accou- 
trements. The rooms are all handsomely papered, carpeted and furnished, each 
according to the taste of the squad occupying it. Three connecting rooms are 
occupied for the company headquarters, and these are furnished with considerable 
elegance and contain, among other interesting objects, two handsome trophies 
won by the 49th regiment rifle team. The card room also presents a very attrac- 



53 



AUBURN, N. v., ITS 



tive appearaiicp, tlie walls being tastefully papered, the fioor covered with Brussels 
carpet and the rooin supplied with marble top card tables and other conTeniences. 
The second floor is occupied as a company drill room. It is 135 feet long, 80 feet 
wide and 60 feet from the floor to the peak of the roof, which is trussed. A band 
st and is su-jpp 1 led fr):n th3 tru;?^^ supp):-:li_^ thj r));', and when the room is 
decorated and lighted for the company balls and receptions it presents a magnifi- 
cent scene. Besides the company drills, the room is occupied for rifle practice, 
and every Friday night one of the four squads are ordere I to display their skill. 
A gold medal owned by the company and awarded the marksman making the 
highest score, and which he retains for one month, or until it is won by another, 
incites competition and increases the general excellence of the company as marks- 
men. In the rear of and adjoining the main building is the gymnasium.* 45x90 
feet in diniensicMis, which was f ceupied by the 49th regiment as a squad drill room 
but which is now fully equipped with gymnastic apparatus and forms one of the most 
at!;raetive f jitures of the armo -y. The entire building i< heat/^d by steam, supplied 
by two large boilers, located in the basement, and in every respect is as com- 
fortable and convenient as could be desired. 

The ^\ hole number of mai enlisted in the Whe:der Rifles has been 135, of 
whicli some have been dropped from the rolls on account of disability and removal 
Irom the city, leaving at present an active membership of 98, as follows: 

Captain — William M. Kirby. 

First Lieutenant — Frank II. Griswold. 

Second Lieutenant — Henry S. Dunning. 

First Lieutenant and Assistant Surgeon — John (lerin. 

First Sergeant — Frank J. Stupp. Pi-ivates — 

(^. M. Sergeant— C'has. H. Carpenter, Hardy, Bon P. 



Sergeant 

Francis J. Vincent. 

Willard G. Cowell. 

Samuel L. Bradburn. 

C. James Barber. 
Corporals — 

Willard M. Olmsted. 

(ieorge K. (Jongdon.- 

Burt A. Ferris. 

George W. Nellis. 

Fred A. Smith. 

Isaac W. Ilaight. 

PVed 1). (■ongdon. 

William A. Martin. 
Musicians — 

Edward F. J. Nicht. 

(xeorge Dabinett. 
Privates — 

Anderson, (J-eorge A. 

Bailey, Moses M. 

Barnes, Willard W, 

Biggs, Fred C. 

Bowen, James C. 

Bowers, George E. 

Brown, Fred H. 

Bruce, Robert 

Brinkerhoft', George H. 

(Jady, Frank K. 

(!anq)bell, John W. 

Carson, . lames T. 

Chesebro, Fred P. 



Harding, Robert 
Hills, Harold E. 
Horton. Hiram P. 
Ilompe, Henry A. 
Howard, William T. 
Hurd, Geo)-gc M. 
Ilurlbut. Daniel L. 
Jones, Fred H. 
Judson, Donald 
Kidney, Harry R. 
Kosters, Clemence B. 
Lawton, Albert W. 
Mandell. Henry 11. 
Maxson, ivlmond W. 
Maynard, James 15. 
McNaughtoa, Henry T. 
Miller, L )uis 
Moshcr, Vvcd J. 
?iIott, Henry F. 
Myers, (Jeorge S. 
Osborn. F. William 
Putnam, Fred H. 
Prechtel, George P. 
Ramsey, Hugh D. 
Robinson, Robert W. 
Sagar. Charles II. 
Scoville. Fdw.ard K. 
Searls. 'I'lieodoi-e .1, 
Smith. Kdwin M. 
Smith. Cliarles O. 
Squycr, Seymour II. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 53 

Privates — Privates — 

Cole, Frank E. Stevens, Leroy W. 

Cole, Samuel M. Stupp, Joseph B. 

Coburn, Frank S. Strong, Eugene M. 

Culver, Marion G. Thayer, N. B. 

Crane, William H. Tripp, Henry C. 

Davis, J. Frank Trowbridge, John J. 

Darling, Charles D. Turner, Cassins M. 

Emens, Wm. J. Washburn, Jay A. 

Fitch, Edwin R. Webster, Benjamin F. 

Fii'th, Wm. C. Westover, Seymour H. 

FoUett, Edward H. Whaley, Fred. M. 

Gill, Henry J. Jr. Winegar, B. Frank 

Grenville, George A. Wiggins, Fred H. 

Groot, Edward iVl. Woodin, Edwin A, 

As previously stated, the Wheeler Rifles are composed principally of young 
business men of the best social standing, and accordingly form a social as well as 
a military organization, membership in which is most desirable. The complimen- 
tary hops, balls and receptions of the company form the social events of the seasons, 
invitations to w^hich are eagerly sought after. The high standard of excellence to 
whicli the organization has been brought is largely due to the efforts of Captain 
Kirby, wlio, while a strict disciplinarian, takes a deep interest in the personal wel- 
fare of the members of tlie company, and strives to make their social intercourse 
pleasant. He is a military man of large experience and recognized ability, having 
served during the war of the rebellion and rising from a private to captain of 
light artillery, and although doing all in his power for the pleasure of his com- 
mand, maintains a discipline that has already given it the second and will doubt- 
less yet give it first rank in the National Guard of the State. The commandant 
and his men working thus harmoniously together, and taking the greatest pride 
in their appearance as a company, the Wheeler Rifles and their armory are and 
will undoubtedly I'emain a credit to the City and to the State. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Other Public Buildings, Grounds and Works. 



THE CITY HALL AND THE COUNrY BUU/XINJ J-TlIE CAYUGA AS- 
YLUM FOR DESTITUTE CHILD:iE.>r— THE CoMETERlES— THE WA- 
TER WORKS, GAS ANDvSTEAM ILLVriXG WORKS. 



AMONG the other public buildiigs w )rl:hy of note arc the City Ha,ll, and the 
County buildings. The City Hall, an old-fashioned two-story stone 
structure, occupied by the municipal government, stands at the junction of 
Market and Franklin streets, and was erected in 183o-7 at a cost of $30,000. The 
building was authorized by the following resolution, passed July 7, 1835, by the 
Board of Trustees of the village: '' Remh-fd, That the trustees proceed to erect a 
building for a market and public hall, on the site })urcliased for that purpose (of 
Allen Warden) said building to be 105 feet by 45 feet, the Iirst story to be of cut 



54 AUBURN, X. i'.. ITS 

stone, the second story to be of natural faced stone, except the corners and the win- 
dow caps and sills, which shall be cut; said building to be furnished with a cupola 
suitable to hang a bell in of 500 pounds: the whole to be finished in the modern 
style of Grecian architecture." The lower stor,y was provided with stalls for the 
butchers and the upper was finished as an exhibition hall. A village ordinance re- 
quired all the butchers to rent stalls in the building "and expose their meats for 
sale there. Vegetable wagons wt'i-c required to rendezvous on the sides of the 
square in front of the town hall until 9 o'clock a. m. A village officer styled tlie 
clerk of the market, was appointed to enforce the market laws and bring suits for 
their non observance. T'he market system continued in force in Auburn until 1845, 
when John E. Patten, having with great boldness opened a market in another place 
in the village, a question arose as to the soundness ()f the town ordinances on 
this subject. In a lawsuit brought by the trustees against Mr. Patten, the courts 
declaimed these ordinances invalid and the butchers soon afterward left the market, 
which was then for several ye.irs unused, except occasionally for the packing of 
pork. The stalls were subsequently removed and the building fitted up for a 
school." For the past ten or twelve years the entire building has been occupied by 
the municipal government.- The lower story now contains the Recorder's Court 
room and orBce; police headquarters — station-house and chief of police's office; of- 
fices of the (commissioners of Charities and Police, City Treasurer and Boards of 
Health and Excise. The upper story contains the Council I'oom, the offices of the 
Mayor and City Clerk, the City Court Room and City Judge's office and the offices 
of the Street Superintendent, City Surveyor and Assessor. The headquarters of 
the Fire Department are in the large three story brick building in the rear of and 
adjoining the City Hall. 

T'he County buildings, consisting of the court house, jail and county clerk's 
building, are all situated at the corner of Genesee and Court streets. The court 
house was erected in 18::J6 at a cost ot about $80,000, and is of a style of architec- 
ture similar to the city hall, except that it is surmounted by a very large dome. In 
the rear of the court house is the jail, also a two-stoi-y stone structure. It was 
built ia 1833, " after which the old jail built in the court house in imitation of the 
En^-lish, was discontinued." The County Clerk's building is a handsome three 
story brick structure adjacent to the court house and jail and was erected in 1882, 
when the small one-story stone structure occupied for the purpose since 1814 was 
demolished. 

The Cavuga Asylum for Destitute Children occupies a pleasant site, ornamented 
with shade trees and shrubbery, on Owasco street, between Walnut and Bradford. 
It is a fine three story brick building with a wing, containing comfortable 
school rooms, well ventilated dormitories and other necessary apartments. 
"The original asylum was opened in 1852 in a wooden house on the east side of 
James street, by means of the imtiring and benevolent exertions of Mrs. Harriet T. 
Pitney, a lady whose long experience and devotion to the cause of .Sunday schools 
convinced her of the urgent necessity of a home in Auburn for orphan children 
and whose convictions led her to undertake its establishment." The present site 
of the asylum was purchased in 1854 and the brick buildings erected in 1857-8, 
but many improvements have since been made. The asylum was incorporated in 
1852, its object as stated in the act of incorporation being " to provide a temporary 
home for orphan, half orphan and destitute children, supply their necessities, 
promote their mcjral, intellectual and religious improveinent, and fit thera-for situ- 
ations of usefulness." Its corporate power, as regards its control, are vested in a 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 55 

board of nine male trustees, and as regards the appropriation of its income, the 
care and management of its internal and domestic concerns, in a board of female 
managers, consisting of a first, second and third directress, a treasurer, a secreta- 
ry, and twenty-seven other female managei's, residing at the time of their election 
or appointment in the County of Cayuga. The managers are empowered to gov- 
ern the children committed to their care and prescribe the course of their instruc- 
tion and management to the same extent and with the same rights as exist in the 
case of natural guardians; "to bind out such children to some suitable employ- 
ment in the same manner as overseers of the poor are authorized to bind poor and 
indigent children," but to see that provision is made whereby they shall be secui-ed 
" an education proper and fitting to the condition and circumstances in life of 
such a child, and instruction in mechanical or agricultui-al pursuits." The amend- 
ed act authorizes the Board of Supervisors " to instruct the superintendents of the 
poor * * * to annually contract with the managers of said asylum, to board 
and clothe all children thrown on the county for support, who are of a proper age 
to receive its benefits, at a price not exceeding eighty cents each per week," and the 
board of supervisors are "authorized to levy and collect annually, in advance, in 
the same manner as other county charges are levied and collected, such sums of 
money for the above purpose as they may deem necessary and expedient." Arti- 
cle IX of the by-laws provides, that "no person shall be considered eligible to the 
office of superintendent who is not a professed believer in the doctrines of the Bible 
and competent to give religious instruction to the children, abstaining also from all 
sectarian influence." The school law of the city of Auburn, passed June 10, 1875, 
authorized the Board of Education to employ a teacher or teachers in the Asylum 
for Destitute Children of said city, and to pay therefor out of the public school 
fund, in like manner as other teachers are paid; and said board is autliorized to 
supply said asylum with fuel for school purposes, in like manner as other schools 
are supplied; and the said board shall have the same care, oversight and direction 
of said school as of the other public schools of said city ; but nothing in this act 
shall be construed to give the Board of Education any conti'ol over the raana 'ce- 
ment of said asylum except as herein provided. The Cayuga Asylum is a most 
worthy institution and a credit to the city. The Board of Managers issue monthly 
a paper called The Orphan's Friend, wliich is a great assistance to the asylum in 
enlisting the sympathy and aid of the public, while it gives information to the 
friends abroad of its management and the history of the children committed to its 
care. 

The cemeteries of Auburn are five in number. Fort Hill, one of the most beau- 
tiful cemeteries in the country, was consecrated on the 7th of July, 1852. It occu- 
pies the bold eminence in the south-western part of the city that is supposed to 
have been the location of an old Indian fort more than two hundred years ago. 
"The rude old embankment, overgrown with turf, (believed to be the remains of this 
fort) was carefully preserved. Upon a slight mound in the center of the fort, 
which had long attracted public attention, and was supposed to be the remains of 
an ancient earthen altar, there was erected in 1852. through the e£fortsof oneof the 
trustees, a monument, fifty-six feet high, of dark limestone, as a mark of respect to 
the memory of the celebrated Tah-gah-jute, or Logan. The northern face of this 
shaft, bears a marble slab with the inscription, ' Who is there to mourn for Lo- 
gan?' " The e?ra3tery is laid out in winding, drives and walks and is an attractive 
point of interest to visitors. St. Joseph's Cemetery (Catholic) contains 85 acres of 
la-i 1. L)cit3l at the foot of Owasco Lake, about two miles from the city. It isalso 



50 AUBURN, N. Y.. ITS 

an attractive spot, visited by many people. The Sonle Cemetery is located in the 
adjoining town of Sennett, and was recently willed to the city by Lyman Soule. 
The old North and State street cemeteries are about filled with graves and it will 
be but a short time until burial in them will bo discontinued, except by the rela- 
tives of families having lots there. 

The Auburn Water Works Company was incorporated Ajiril 19, 1859, with a 
capital stock of $100,000 which was subsequently increased to $150,000. The or- 
ganization was not perfected, however, until December, 1863, and construction 
was delayed until 1864, by reason of the difficulty experienced in obtaining 
a suitable location with sufficient elevation for reservoirs. At this time at- 
tention was directed to the Holly system of water works, which resulted in the 
abandonment of the idea of using reservoirs. With this obstacle overcome, active 
operations were begun in April, 1864, and prosecuted with such vigor that by De- 
cember of that year water was distributed through 32,930 feet of mains, travers- 
ing the city through the pi-incipal streets. The source of supply is tiie Owasco 
lake and the outlet one mile down to the pump works and dam, which are on a 
level with the lake and about a mile distant from the center of the city. Pipes 
are now being laid, however, out into the lake a distance of 200 feet, through which 
is expected to be drawn a supply of water more pui-e than that now consumed. In 
connection with the Holly system, which has been found to answer all demands 
made upon it, there is a fire alarm telegraph line, having twenty-six stations, from all 
of which analarm can be instantly conveyed to the engineer at the works. Theoi'di- 
nary average daily pressure maintained in the mains is forty pounds to the square 
inch, but with the reserve power at hand no difficulty is experienced in obtaining 
a pressure of thrice that amount. The analysis of the water flowing from the 
Owasco is as follows: chloride of potassium, 0.39 grains; sulphate of potassa, 0.32; 
sulphate of soda, 0.37; sulphate of lime, 0.01; carbonate of lime, 5.43; carbonate 
of magnesia, 1,57; silicia, 0.16; oxide of iron and alumina, trace; organic matter, 
1.28 — total per gallon, 9.53 grains. This shows it to be of excellent qiuility and 
of purity almost unequalled. 

The Auburn Gas Light Company was originally incorporated December 4, 1848, 
the capital stock being fixed at $20,000, but the delays usual with new enterprises 
deferred the regular organization of the company until January 14, 1850. A site 
for the works was then secured south of the prison dam, and in the summer of 1850 
buildings were erected, mains laid through the principal streets and gas turned on 
during that year. Refuse of whale oil was first used in the manufacture^, but it 
was soon succeeded by rosin, which produced a heavy gas of great illuminating 
power. In 1861 the use of rosin was discontinued, in response to the general de- 
mand for cheaper gas, and new works were erected for the manufacture of coal gas. 
The success of the company from that time forward has been uninterrupted. The 
original capital has been increased with the growth of the business and now 
amounts t(; $150,000. Dividends have been and are regularly paid, and tlie gas 
stock is V" profitable investment. 

The Auburn Steam Heating Co., Limited. vva<; incorporated June 6, 1878. A 
one story brick building, 50x32 fceo indime.iuons, was erected on the outlet in the 
rear of tlie Cayuga County National Bank, into which the company placed six fif- 
teen-foot boilers. Tlie object of the company was to introduce the Holly system of 
steam heating into [jublic and private buildings. Mains were laid and the eom- 
l)any liave been supplying steam lieat to jiatiM.is since the; fall of 1878. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 57 

CHAPTER XIII. 
A Few Facts 



REGARDING AUBURN AS A PLACE OF RESIDENCE AND AS A LO- 
CATION FOR MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES— THE CHURCHES, 
SCHOOLS. LIBRARIES, NEWSPAPERS, BANKS, ETC. 



THE iittractions of Auburn as a place of residence are manifold. The beauty 
of the city and its surroundings is acknowledged. The wide streets, uni- 
formly shaded by rows of maples, elms and sycamores, set out by i^ublic 
spirited citizens when the city was yet in its infancy, command the admiration of 
every visitor. The buildings, public and private, attract attention as being of a 
superior kind, and the homes of the people are characterized by a neatness and 
order that indicate a thrift and intelligence not always found in towns with a large 
manufacturing population. The numerous churches, schools, newspapers and libra- 
ries are indicative of the deep interest taken in the moral, religious and educational wel- 
fare of the city by its inhabitants; and the Cayuga Asylum for Destitute Children, the 
A uburn City Hospital, the Home for the Friendless (sustained by voluntary contri- 
butions for the relief of the aged and respectable poor since 1864) and the Society to 
Promote the Interests of Working Women, are each suggestive of the benevolence 
of the citizens. The amusement-loving part of the population are entertained at 
the Academy of Music and the Opera House by the better class of travelling theat- 
rical and musical combinations, while those otherwise inclined find relief from the 
toil and turmoil of busy life in the many religious, social, secret and other socie- 
ties that abound. Auburn enjoys all the advantages of the free postal delivery 
system; street cars, omnibuses and an excellent system of "hacks" afford easy ac- 
cess to all parts of the city, and, in fact, it possesses nearly all the advantages of 
the larger cities without many of their disadvantages. 

The climate is in no great respect dissimilar to that which is common to all parts 
of Western New York. " The winds prevail from the north and west, these bring 
cool, clear weather but are generally preceded by heavy storms. The south winds 
are wet and chilling. The temjjerature of the atmosphere varies from 24 degrees 
below zero to the extreme of 100 above, passing over an annual range of about 124 
degrees." The average temperature is warmer than the average of the State; 
sudden and severe changes are not uncommon, the thermometer indicating often a 
difference of thirty degrees in twelve hours. The average time from the blos- 
souring of the apple tree to the first killing frost is said to be about one hundred 
and seventy-five days. The health of the city is remarkable. For the year ending 
March 1, 1883, the number of deaths was 469; for the year ending March 1, 1884, 
the number of deaths was 399 — a decrease of 70. The death rate during the year 
ending March 1, 1883, based on a population of 25,000, was 18.76 per 1,000, while 
the death rate during the year ending March 1, 1884, based on a population of 
26,000, was but 15.03 per 1,000. This decrease is largely due to the increased 
sanitary precaution instituted by the Board of Health. 

The municipal administration is vested in a Mayor and Common Council com- 



58 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

posed of ten AUlermen, each of whom represents one of the ten wards into which 
the city is divided. Auburn is as well and economically governed as any city in the 
United States, and the progressive, liberal policy adopted is decidedly in favor of 
manufacturers, and tends, consequently, to the advancement of the best interests 
of the city. From the Mayor's annual message, delivered March 10, 1884, it is 
learned that the bonded indebtedness of the city at this time is $490,000, of which 
$460,000 is the balance of a debt of $500, 000 incurred in the purchase of stock in the 
Southern Central Railway. * * * The assessed valuation of the real estate of 
the city in 1883 was $8,582,790, and the personal property, $1,291,505. Total as- 
sessed valuation of real and personal property, $9,854,295. The amount of the city 
tax levy was $149,714, and the county tax, $94,024.77. The assessment on this 
property has been equal to $23.91 on the thousand. Deducting $10,000 raised for 
the payment of city bonds, becoming due, and $10,000 raised for paving purposes 
and the amount of the city tax for 1883 and the preceding year would be very 
nearly the same. An examination and comparison of the assessment rolls for 1882 
and 1883, shows that the valuation of the real estate of the city has increased 
$483,340. * * * The city tax budget for 1883 was $150,583.35, of which sum 
there has been collected $149,780.78, of which there has been credited to the sever- 
al funds the following amovints: education $44,335.64; fire department, $5,000; 
water, $19,000; lamps, $17,000; jxilice, $10,500; health, $1,000; bridge, $2,000; 
hose house, Fulton street, $2,000; paving, $10,000; Soule cemetery, $1,213.33; 
bonded debt, 10,000; interest on debt, $1,500; streets, $14,000; contingent, $12,- 
231.14 — total $149,780.78. There was remaining in the contingent fund, March 
1, 1883, $5,657.76; recorder's fines received during the year, $3,178.22; city 
judge's fees, $560.90; board of excise for licenses, $9,787.21; for fees and percent- 
age on taxes, $566.83; interest on deposits in bank, $1,126.76; arrears of taxes, 
show licenses, &c, $2,702.80; city tax of 1883 collected for contingent fund, $12,- 
231.14 — total credited to fund, $35,811.58. Amount orders of council paid from 
fund, $34,811.58. Balance in contingent fund, March 1, 1884, $1,663.41; bal- 
ance in water fund, $300 ; balance in paving fund, $2,799.01; balance in lamp 
fund, $6,439.51; balance in police fund, $7,496.36; balance in street fund, 
$9.50 ; balance in Soule cemetery fund, $324.86 ; balance in interest on 
debt fund, $750; balance in bonded debt fund, $10,900 — total balance in 
treasury, $29,763.30. In addition to the sum of $149,780.78 of city tax of 1883 
collected, there were received by the treasurer from excise and other sources. 
f23, 580.44, making a total of $173,361.22. Adding balance in treasury March 
1, 1883, $25,561.18, making a total of $198,922.40, and deducting balance 
in treasury Mareli 1, 1884, $29,763.30, shows the total city expenditure tor the 
current year to have been $169,159.10. The police department consists of a chief 
and captain of police and thirteen patrolmen; the force, as a body, will compare 
favorably with any similar body of men in appearance and discipline. The fire de- 
partment is as efficient as any volunteer department can be, and is regarded witli 
much favor by the citizens. Seven hose companies and one hook and ladder com- 
pany afford, it is claimed, ample protection against fire. There are 297 fire hy- 
drants scattered throughout the city, and the service of the water works (the Hol- 
ley system) is entirely satisfactory; and with the attention given to the fire alarm 
telegraph, confidence is felt in the ability of the department to cope with all 
conllugrations. 

The facilities possessed by Auburn for the transaction of all business are unex- 
ceptionable. The banks are seven in number, viz., the First National l>ank, or- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 59 

ganized in 1884, capital $300,000; National Bank of Auburn, originally estab- 
lished in 1817 as the Bank of Auburn and organized as a National Bank in 1865, 
capital $200,099; Cayuga County National, organized in 1833, reorganized in 
1885, capital $200,000; National Exchange Bank, organized in 1865, capital $200,- 
000; the banking house ef William H. Seward & Co. originally organized in 1860 
capital not stated ; the Cayuga County Savings Bank, organized in 1865, and the 
Auburn Savings Bank established in 1849. The transportation facilities afforded 
by the New York Central and Hudson River and the Southern Central Railroads, 
with their extensive connections, enable the manufacturers and merchants to 
compete with any city in the country, and the freight rates given by these roads to 
shippers here are highly satisfactory. The express system is also conducted on a 
liberal scale in the matter of facilities and rates, by the American and United 
States Express Companies, and the telegraph and telephone service is as complete 
as is required. 

There are seventeen churches in Auburn, viz., the Calvary Presbyterian, junc- 
tion of Franklin and Capitol streets; Central Presbyterian, William near Genesee; 
Church of Christ, Division street near Wall ; church of the Holy Family (Roman 
Catholic), North street near Chapel : First Baptist, Genesee street, opposite Cayu- 
ga County National Bank; First Methodist, on Exchange street; First Presbyter- 
ian, North street, corner of Franklin; First Universalist, South street, corner of 
Lincoln; Second Baptist, Uwasco street, corner of Genesee; Second Presbyterian, 
South street near Lincoln ; St. Alphonsus (German Roman Catholic), Water street 
near North; St. John's (Episcopal), East Genesee street, corner of Fulton; St. 
Luke's (German Protestant) Seminary avenue, near Franklin ; St. Mary's (Roman 
Catholic), Clark street, corner of Green; St. Peter's (Episcopal), Genesee street, 
near James ; Wall street Methodist, Wall street, corner of Washington ; and Zion's 
church (colored). No. 9 Washington street. These churches are all stone or brick 
edifices of pleasing architecture, and all have large memberships. The First Bap- 
tist Church Society are now building an elegant new edifice on the corner of Gen- 
esee and James streets, and when tliis is completed, their old edifice will be sold. 
The view of the new First Baptist Church, presented on another page, will serve as 
an excellent illustration of Auburn church architecture in general. 

In educational facilities Auburn otters advantages that are unsurpassed by any 
city of a comparative size in this country. The public school system of this city 
has attained a high state of perfection, and the private schools merit the fullest ap- 
probation. The public schools are divided into three departments. Primary, Gram" 
mar and High School, and these are each subdivided into four years or grades. 
Thus a pupil may enter the first grade at the age of six years and graduate from 
the high school twelve years later. The courses in the high school are both aca- 
demic and classic. There are twelve public school buildings in the city, in which 
are employed 7/ teachers, with an average daily attendance of 2,544 pupils, not in- 
cluding the Orphan Asylum school. The estimated enrollment in private and pa- 
rochial schools for the year 1883 was 1,200. The estimated real value of property 
used for school purposes is $105,000. The total cost of the schools for the year 
ending July 31, 1883, was $55,335.27, of which sum about $16,000 went to the ac- 
count of buildifig and permanent improvements, and $32,027.50 was the cost for 
teachers and superintendent. The control and management of the public schools 
is vested in a Board of Education consisting of nine Commissioners, to whom the 
fullest power is given by the school law passed June 10, 1875, and the government 
of the schools is characterized by a liberal and progressive policy that must steadily 
•enhance their value. 



60 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 




VIEW OI*' FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH (NOW BUILDING), GENESEE AND .JAMES ST. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 61 

The commodious rooms of the Seymour Library Association, in the handsome 
Auburn Savings Bank building, contain nearly 9,000 volumes. Among the many 
public bequests of the late James S. Seymour was one of $18,000, with residuary 
and the store No. 80 on the south side of Genesee street, with the lot in the rear, 
valued at |8,000, "for the purpose of founding a public library in the city of Au- 
burn." The bequest was made without any other restriction than the naming of a 
portion of the trustees. The Seymour I^ibrary Association was incorporated May 
20, 1876, and in the following August the following officers were elected: Hon. 
Charles C. Dwight, President; Charles Hawley, D. D., Vice Pi-esident; James 
Seymour, Jr., Treasurer and B. B. Snow, Secretary. Soon after the services of 
William L. Poole, the librarian of Chicago, were secured, to aid in the selection of 
books, and the library was opened to the public on the first day of October, 1878. 
The library has a fixed income which exceeds the running expenses. A nominal sum 
is charged for enjoying its privileges, but sufficient additions will doubtless be 
made to its funds to make it a free library, as Mr. Seymour designed it should 
be. There are also a number of private libraries of considerable value in the 
city. 

Pour daily, one Sunday and four weekly newspapers receive a liberal support, 
both in advertisements and subscriptions. The Auburn Daily Advertiser was es- 
tablished in 1844 and is published every week day evening at No. 118 Genesee street 
by Knapp, Peck & Thomson. The Auburn, Neivs and Bulletin, published everyday 
(except Sunday) at Nos. 27 and 29 Clark street by William J. Moses, was estab- 
lished in 1870 as the Auburn Daily Bulletin and was consolidated with the Au- 
burn Morning News, (established in 1872) in 1879. The Evening Auburnian, pub- 
lished daily (except Sunday) at No. 2 Exchange street by the Auburnian Printing 
Company, was established in 1877. The Evening Dispatch, established in 
1882, is published every week day at No. 24 Dill street by the Dispatch Printing 
Association, as is also the Auburn Sunday Dispatch, established in 1881, and the 
Weekly Dispatch, established in 1882. The Auburn Weekly Journal, established 
originally in 1833, is published every Wednesday by Knapp, Peck & Thomson. The 
Auburn Weekly News and Democrat, published by W. J. Moses, was established 
in 1866. The Cayuga County Independent was first issued in 1874, and is pub- 
lished every Thursday at No. 1 State street, by Julius A. Johnson. These journ- 
als are all ably conducted and zealously guard the interests of the city. 

A beautiful city of itself, surrounded by a country noted for its picturesqueness, 
Auburn certainly offers attractions that could hardly fail to interest one seeking a 
desirable home or a favorable location for business. The immense hydraulic power 
of the Owasco has not yet been fully developed, and there are many available man- 
ufacturing sites along its banks as well as elsewhei-e in the city. The future of the 
city is dependent upon its manufacturing interests, and this fact being apprecia- 
ted, manufacturers receive the hearty support and encouragement of the people. 
That Auburn possesses advantages making success in many bx-anches of manufac- 
ture not only possible, but probable, can be satisfactorily demonstrated to those in- 
quiring more fully into the subject, and the practical illustrations of the success 
attending manufacturing here, presented in the following chapters, should be ac- 
cepted as a partial demonstration. 



63 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



TBB D. M. OSBORNE & CO. WORKS — THE LARGEST MANUFACTORY 
OP HARVESTING MACHINERY IN THE WORLD — A CITY WITHIN 
ITSELF. 



THE largest manufactory of harvesting machinery in the world, and the larg- 
est industrial enterprise in this city, it is eminently fitting that the first 
chapter on the Manufacturing Interests of Auburn should be devoted to 
the I). M. Osborne & Co. works, which forms such an excellent illustration of the 
success that has attended the establishment of manufacturing enterprise here by 
men of forecast, ability and capital. 

The history of this great manufactory, which now occupies buildings covering 
an area of fifteen acres, gives employment to 1,500 workmen, and produces daily 
more than 150 mowers, reapers and self-binding harvesters, dates back to 1858, 
when a company was started by David M. Osborne and 0. S. Ilolbrook for the 
manufacture of the Kirby reaper and mower. But twelve men were employed and 
150 machines were made in that year. A brick building, 40x68 feet in dimensions, 
and five stories in height, was occupied. It " was regarded as a mammoth under- 
taking ; men wise in their own conceit but evidently ignorant of America's grain 
future, declared that a building of that 'great ' size and five stories high, would 
turn out more machines than could possibly be marketed." In this, however, the 
projectors of lihe enterprise did not coincide, and went unhesitatingly on with 
their work. The demand for their machines, which at that time represented the 
most improved labor saving agricultural implements yet invented, steadily in- 
(u-ealsed, and as steadily were the facifities for their production increased. But the 
following quotation from Henry Hall's "History of Auburn, " published in 1869, 
will best illustrate the growth of the enterprise up to that time: 

"The mowing machine manufactory of D. M. Osborne & Co., on Genesee street, 
corner of Mechanic, has no rival in its department of industry, for size or com- 
pleteness of appointment either in Auburn or in America. A vast pile of tali, 
substantial brick buildings, covering an acre and a quarter of ground, constitute 
the works. These buildings are seven in number. In the first of these, standing 
on the corner of the street, used as a machine shop prior to occupancy by the 
present proprietors, the business of the firm commenced. The business expanded 
enormously during the five years immediately following 1859. The other buildings 
were erected, one after the other, as the necessity for more room arose, on the 
tongue of land between Mechanic street and the outlet, once the site of certain 
carding, fulling and saw mills elsewhere described. The dimensions of the differ- 
ent shops, which are severally distinguished by their numbers, are as follows : No. 
1, four stories high, 66x40 feet, used as an office and sample room, and containing 
in the second, third and fourth stories, the Morning News establishment ; No. 3, 
three stories in height, 59x48 feet, used as a wood shop ; No. 8, containing the 



FACILITIES AND EESOUECES. 63 

store-house, paint shop and shipping room, four stories and a half high, 114x76 
feet ; No. 4, four stories high, with two basements, 188x50 feet, used as a machine 
shop ; No. 5, the blacksmith shop, one story high, same ground plan as latter ; 
No. 6, the malleable ii-on works, 113x90 feet ; and No. 7, the foundry, 192x66 feet. 
The lumber yard and drying house stand opposite the works in the west side of 
Meclianic street. 

" The manufactory of the combined reaper and mower, invented by William H. 
Kirby, at Buffalo, in 1856, was commenced in Auburn in 1858, by David M. 
Osborne and 0. S. Holbrook, under the firm name of Osborne & Holbrook, for 
whom Orrin H. Burdick, Esq., made by contract 150 machines, employing only 
twelve men in the work. Mr. Holbrook parted with his interest in the business 
in August, 1858, which was then carried on by Cyrus C. Dennis, D. M. Osborne 
and Charles P. Wood, of Auburn, under the style of D. M. Osborne & Co. Two 
hundred mowers were built during 1858. The war then broke out, labor became 
scarce, and the demand for mowers great ; .and the establishment began to be en- 
larged. Mr. Wood retired from the partnership in 1862, and Mr. Dennis, by 
death, in 1866. The firm is now composed of D. M. Osborne, John H. Osborne 
and Orrin H. Burdick. The product of the works during 1868 was fifty-three 
hundred machines. The business now consumes 3,000,000 pounds of pig iron per 
annum, 500,000 pounds of bar iron and steel, and 400,000 feet of lumber. From 
250 to 325 men are employed, who are paid monthly between eight and twelve 
thousand dollars. 

"It is the boast of the proprietors of this peerless establishment that every 
part of their machines, however small, is made at their own works and made well. 
Outside manufactories have no share in the construction of the Kirby, and the 
public is therefore insured against unsound wood work, inferior knives and imper- 
fect castings in these machines. The works are complete, a remark, it is believed, 
that can be made of no similar establishment in the country. The proprietors con- 
template a further enlargement of their manufactory the coining season, by erect- 
ing several brick three story stores over the outlet, fronting the bridge." 

This was then but one of three establishments engaged here in the same busi- 
ness, each with large capital, and each producing several thousand machines per 
year. The Cayuga Chief and the Dodge & Stevenson manufacturing companies 
were rivals for the trade. The latter company went into liquidation and 
there was then a consolidation of the Cayuga Chief with D. M. Osborne & Co., 
under the latter naine. This was a very judicious movement and brought under 
one general organization abundant capital and superior business and mechanical 
talent. William M. Kirby, C. Wheeler, Jr., and Orrin H. Burdick were eachdistin- 
tinguished for superior inventive and mechanical skill and each had given many 
years' attention to the improvement of mowers and reapers. It was, therefore, a 
strong company, financially, mechanically, and commercially. There was no lack 
of vigor or energy in the development of their business, and they extended it all 
over the United States and Canada, and into South America, Great Britain, 
France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, Norway, Sweden. Australia, and New 
Zealand, selling annually to foi-eign nations thousands of machines. 

The demand for the company's harvesting machines, upon which they were con- 
stantly making improvements, increased to such an unparalleled extent that en- 
largement followed enlargement, until in 1880 the works had attained such enor- 
mous proportions that the establishment, so proudly, so glowingly described by 
Henry Hall, ten years previously, seemed puny in comparison. At this time the 



64 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

Osborne works comprised two distinct groups, one of which, known as the No. 1 
Works, was in the heart of the city, while the other, designated as the No. 2 
Works, was located on the New York Central Railway, near the Southern Central 
Railway crossing. These two groups covered more than ten acres of land, and 
consisted of massive four and five story brick buildings. The No. 1 Works were 
divided into eleven departments, as follows : Department No. t, a five story 
building, 60 feet long and 30 feet wide, at the corner of Genesee and Mechanic 
streets, occupied, the basement for the storage of hardware stock, such as nails, 
screws, files, baiting, &c., the fourth floor for the manufacture of wooden rake heads 
and the fifth floor as a store room for wood patterns and machine platforms, the 
intermediate floors between the basement and the fourth story, being used for the 
company's offices. Department No. 2, a five story building, 60x40 feet, used 
for general wood working and containing the most improved labor saving 
machinery invented for this purpose. Department No. 3, a five story building 
125x75 feet, used for storing parts of machines, painting and the setting up of 
machines and running them at a high rate of speed by steam power for the pur- 
pose of thoroughly testing their strength. Department No. 4, a six-story building, 
140x50, occupiefl, the first floor by three large water wheels and two very powerful 
rotary pumps for extinguishing fires ; the second floor by the shipping, grinding 
and cleaning rooms, with twenty emery wheels in operation ; third floor, for the 
putting together and fitting of the iron parts of machines and boring of castings — 
the dies and tools also made here, involving the use of several very beautiful and 
effective die sinking machines ; fourth floor, as a genei'al machine shop, containing 
all sorts of costly machinery, lathes, tools, etc. ; fifth floor, as a pattern room and 
place for ironing and trimming poles, neck-yokes, whilfletrces, etc. ; and the 
sixth floor for the storage of patterns and wood work. Department No. 5, 
a two story building 90x48 feet, the first floor containing ten monster re- 
volving tumblers or hollow cylinders in which eastings are scoured and 
cleaned by being kept in motion and rubbing against each other — a very 
pandemonium of noise — and the second floor, gigantic drop hammers, trip 
hammers, punches and bolt and nut machines. Department No. 6, a gen- 
eral blacksmith shop, 120x40 feet. Department No. 7, a bolt forging shop. 
75x60 feet, containing a number of machines for making bolts, rivets, 
etc. Department No. 8, an immense foundry, 300 feet long and 120 feet 
wide, and containing three cupalas with a capacity of 60 tons of ii'on per day. In 
connection with this foundry, in which more than 10,000 flasks are used, is a room 
70x40 in which flask patterns, forms, pattern matches, &c., are made, and adjoin- 
ing this building are vaults, 140x20, and 18 feet high, absolutely fire proof, in 
which patterns are stored. Department No. 9, a chain shop, 100x30 feet, turning 
out 1,500 feet of chain each day. Department No. 10, a four-story building. 
150x50 feet, the first floor of which containerl 5,000 boxes or compartments for 
extra parts of any and every machine ever manufactured by D. M. Osborne & C'o. ; 
the second floor was used as a show room for specimens of all their harvesting 
machinery : and the third and fourth floors for the storage of wood work exti-as. 
Dei)artment No. 11, a building 100x40 feet, occupied by the bolt and screw cutting 
machinery, and adjoining this a building, 20x40 feet, in which the more than 50 tons 
of Babbitt's metal annually consumed was manufactured. A 300 horsepower Cor- 
liss engine and five water wheels, aggregating 200 hoi-sc power, or 500 horse power 
in all, was recjuired to drive the machinery in these No. 1 Works. 

The No. 2 Works comprised section and malleable iron shops, paint shops, stor- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 65 

age rooms, canvass rooms, rolling mill, &c. The first floor of a four story build- 
ing, 220x50 feet, was occupied for the grinding of sections and malleable iron ; 
the second floor for the manufacture of flnger bars, cutter bars, knotters for twine 
binder attachments and twisters for wire binder attachments ; the third floor for 
setting up and running off harvesters, and the fourth floor for tempering steel and 
making canvass conveyors. An L of this building, 60x50 feet and three stories 
high, was use<l for planing and sawing wood work, as a store and sorting room 
for malleable iron castings, and as a paint shop. Then there was a malleable iron 
foundry, 150x180 feet, containing two lai'ge air furnaces, with a capacity of six 
tons each ; a cleaning room, G0x30 feet ; a sorting room, 100x20 feet ; an anneal- 
ing room, 60x184 feet, with eight ovens, and a rolling mill, 150x75 feet, furnished 
with a nine-inch train of rolls, a steam hammer and two power shears, the capacity 
of the mill being eight tons of finished wrought iron per day. In addition, there 
were sheds for scraps and finished iron, 100x50 feet. The motive power required 
to operate the No. 2 Works was one engine of 180 horse power and another of 50 
horse power. The combined steam and water power of the No. 1 and No. 2 Works 
was 780 horse power, and 1,242 pulleys, 2,033 main and 1,396 counter shafting 
and 13,337 feet of belting were employed in driving the machinery. 

Thu'^ in a little more than twenty years the single building at first occupied had 
been supjilemented by more than a score ; the twelve men with which the enter- 
prise started had been increased to a thousand and more ; the machines annually 
made had arisen from hundreds to tens of thousands, and every needful manufac- 
turing facility had been correspondingly increased. But with all these immense 
buildings, in which nearly four miles of belting and shaftmg were in daily opera- 
, tion, turning the wheels of an almost incredible number of labor saving machines, 
and with 1,225 men constantly at work, D. M. Osborne & Co. were unable to supply 
the demand for their harvesting machinery, and during the following year (1880-1) 
they increased their capacity by the erection of sevei*al new buildings of large propor- 
tions. Among the most conspicuous of these is the new wood working shop, a 
massive brick building, 250x88 feet in dimensions and five stories in height, with 
a 300 horse power Corliss engine to drive the machinery ; new malleable iron 
works, 200 feet long and 80 feet wide, containing three air furnaces, each having a 
capacity of six tons ; new cleaning and straightening rooms, 150x60 feet, supplied 
with a 50 horse power engine ; new annealing building, 200 feet long and 60 feet 
wide, containing nine large ovens ; new rolling mill, 200x80 feet, containing one 
ten-inch train of rolls, one sixteen-inch train of rolls, one 4,500 pound steam ham- 
mer, two pairs of steam shears and three heating furnaces, the motive power being 
supplied by a Porter-Allen engine of 150 horse power and a Sweet engine of 50 
horse power. The capacity of the rolling mill is 20 tons of finished iron per day, 
and in connection with it there is a new puddling building, 100x60 feet, filled with 
puddling furnaces, and a scrap and piling house, 100x65 feet, in which scrap iron 
is cut up with steam shears and prepared for the furnaces. In addition to these 
buildings there arc two new warehouses, each 300 feet long, 80 feet wide and two 
stories high, for storing harvesting machines. The lower stories of these large 
buildings are built of stone, finished above with wood, and have fire proof iron 
roofs. Adding the length of shafting and belting contained in the new buildings 
to that in the old ones, gives a grand total of considerably more than five luiles of 
shafting and belting in the Osborne Works. The aggregate of steam and water 
power in the old and new buildings is enormous, comprising as it does five, water 
wheels of 200 horse power, two Coi'liss engines of 300 horse power each, a 150 horse 



06 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

power Porter-Allen engine, a 50 horse pawer Sweet engine, two others of 50 horse 
power and one of 180 horse power, making a total of 1,280 horse power. 

The pay roll of D. M. Osborne & Co. now contains the names of 1,500 workmen, 
to whom $70,000 are paid in wages every month. Every day there are produced 
150 or more mowers, reapers and self-binding harvesters, which find a market in 
all parts of the world. And the fifteen acres of land, covered with buildings in 
which these 1,500 people are employed, form a city within itself, which is lighted 
by electricity supplied by one of the Brush Electric Light Company's forty-light 
machines. Besides being lighted by electricity, this city of shops has its own 
railroad, the cars on which are drawn by locomotives owned by the proprietors ; 
its own telephone exchange, the principal departments of the works being in tele- 
phonic communication with each, and requiring for this purpose, ten telephone 
instruments ; its own telegraph office, the company maintaining direct telegraphic 
communication with their branch offices all over the country, and employing their 
own operators, who are stationed, with their instruments, in the home office. 

An enterprise of such magnitude is not common, and when a manufactory con- 
ducted on such a grand scale is observed, it will be discovered that there were 
good causes which led to its remarkable growth. In this case the causes are read- 
ily traced. The projectors of this enterprise were men of foresight and ability. 
When, twenty-five years ago, they began the manufacture of mowers and reapers, 
farmers were incredulous and it was difficult to convince them of the value and 
utility of these labor saving machines. But labor was becoming scarce, and much 
against their wills they were compelled to invest in order to harvest their crops. 
Here was the manufacturer's opportunity. Having produced a machine designed 
to overcome the prejudices of the farmers through its merits, they were not slow to 
introduce it in all parts of the world. Having created a demand for the machine 
by convincing the farmer of its value and utility, they were not content to ' ' leave 
well enough alone," but sought to improve the machine and increase its value to 
the farmer. Thus the value of the machine was increased by constant improve- 
ments, and as the farmer's knowledge of this value increased the demand for the 
machine was increased, and the facilities for production were increased to 
meet the demand. The advancement was rapid and the result has been 
shown. The comparison between the large establishment in which the ma- 
chines are made to-day and the small concern of twenty-five years ago, 
is hardly greater than that between the self-binding harvester of to-day and 
the reaper of that time. To D. M. Osborne & Co. the world is undoubtedly largely 
indebted for the great improvement made in harvesting macliinery, and their re- 
ward is just. 

The name and fame of the Osborne Harvesting Machines are world-wide. It is 
claimed they comprise a larger variety of mowers, reapers and self-binders than 
can be found in any other similar establishment in the world, and are better adaj)- 
ted to the varied recjuii-ements of climate and crops, than the products of any other 
manufactory, and these claims are indisputed. Every portion of the machines are 
made in the Osborne Works by competent workmen, and the facilities jiossessed are 
unequalled. The lumber yards cover an area of eight acres of land, and from two 
to three years' supply is constantly kept on hand so as to insure thorough seasoning. 
There is not a drying house on the premises, all of the lumber being seasoned nat- 
urally, it being claimed that as compai'ed with the forcing process employed in 
drying houses, natural seasoning doubles the strength and durability of timber. 
And it is this same I'egard for all the material entering into the construction of the 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 67 

Osborne machines that gives them superiority orer all others. They have taken first 
prize gold medals in every grain growing State of the American Union, and also in 
England, France, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, South Afri- 
ca, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, and their popularity is still increasing. 
The D. M. Osborne & Co. Works were incorporated under the State laws in 1875. 
The present oificers are D. M. Osborne, President; G. W. Allen, Treasurer; J. H. 
Osborne, Secretary ; D. M. Osborne, J. H. Osborne, G. W. Allen and 0. II. Bur- 
dick, Trustees. The value of the industry to the city of Auburn has been almost 
incalculable. The funds disbursed here by the company are drawn mainly from 
distant states or foreign countries, and are, therefore, so much added to the wealth 
of the locality. The works could illy be spared from the resources of Auburn, and 
their continued success is the hearty wish of every citizen. 



CHAPTER XV. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



THE E. D. CLAPP ENTERPRISES— THE E. D. CLAPP MANUFACTURING 
COMPANY AND THE E. D. CLAPP WAGON COMPANY— TWO GREAT 
MANUFACTORIES. 



1 



r~r~^0 the resident of Auburn the history of the two great manufactories oper- 
ated by the E. D. Clapp Manufacturing Company and the E. D. Clapp 
Wagon Company is probably familiar. But to the great body of readers, 
unacquainted with the city or the causes leading to its growth and progress, the 
story of the birth and the development of these establishments (second only in im- 
l)ortance among the largest concerns in the city) contains much of interest. Al- 
though conducted vmder different titles, the two establishments are under the same 
management, and substantially the same ownership. Owing their being to the 
foresight and ability of the gentleman whose name appears in the title, a brief 
sketch of his life previous to embarking in the enterprise which has resulted so 
profitably to himself and the city of Auburn, will serve as a fitting introductory 
to the history of these manufactories, which have added so largely to the pros- 
perity and industrial reputation of this place. 

Emerson Donaldson Clapp was born at Ira, Cayuga County, on the 12th day of 
November, 1829. His father was Othniel Palmer Clapp, who moved from Throop 
to Ira about 1820, and settled upon a section of government land whicliho received 
for military services in the war of 1812. E. D. Clapp received his education in 
the district schools of Ira, and Falley Seminary, Fulton, N. Y., where he spent 
two terms. At the age of sixteen he taught a district school in the neighboring 
town of Cato, and when nineteen he married Sarah Van Patten, daughter of Nich- 
olas Van Patten, a neighboring farmer. They began life on a small farm in the 
northeastern part of the township, but a drouth prevailing during the first year, 
he quit farming at the end of the season. In 1851 he moved to Ira and built a 
two-story frame wagon shop and began to make farm wagons and other vehicles. 



68 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 




^M^VlW r; \i.vvj 



E D CLiPPS SHOP — 1804 

As early as 1853 he became an advocate of the plan of building wagons on a large 
scale by machinery, but owing to inability to secure capital his plans came to 
naught at that time. In 1855 he leased his wagon shop and began to run a line of 
stages between Oswego and Auburn, carrying a daily mail from 1855 to 1860. He 
was a successful bidder on mail routes in Central New York and until 1865 gave 
his attention to carrying on and sub-letting tlie same. In 1850 he moved to Aii- 
burn, then a small village of about 7,000 inhabitants, and for several years engaged 
in the livery stable business. 

THE E D. CLAPP MANUFACTURING CO. 

Having procured letters patent for a thill coupling, in 1864 he leased a small 
shop belonging to the city mills, on Mechanic street, and began the manufacture 
of this article on a small scale. The mechanical supervision of the work was in 
charge of Mr. Frederick Van Patten, a mechanic of rare ability and large experi- 
ence in the armories at Springfield, Hartford and Ilion. As a practical carriage 
maker, Mr. Clapp was familiar with the wants of the trade, and to the manufac- 
ture of thill couplings was soon added fifth wheels. Mr. Van Patten and M. S. 
Fitch were admitted to a partnership, and under the title of E. D. Clapp & Co. 
the business outgrew the limited quarters on Mechanic street within the first four 
years. In 1869 the firm erected a large three-story factory on Water street, ample, 
it was believed, to meet the demands of their business for many years to come. 
Here new lines of goods were added, including stump joints, king bolts, and the 
Miner, Stevens and Saunders patent coupling, the latter being the only patent 
thill coupling of the hundreds invented that has ever become a standard article in 
the trade. Their business so increased as to demand the working of two sets of 
hands, the factory running, for the most part, night and day. Mr. Fitch retiring 
from the firm in 1873, the business was continued by Messrs. Clapp and Van Pat- 
ten, and the factory, ample as it had been considered, was foiind inadequate to 
meet the demands of their augmenting business. In 1874 they erected a much 
lai'ger factory on extensive grounds on the corner of Genesee and Division streets, 
directly on the line of the Southern Central Railroad, affording the most desirable 
fiicilities, for the convenient receipt and distribution of their largo amount of freight. 
lUit the great increase of business necessitated a further enlargement before they 
were fairly settled in the new factory, and consecpiently an addition 40x100 feet, 
was built in 1875. On the first day of August, 1876, a stock company was organ- 
ized with the title of the E. D. Clapp Manufacturing Company, comprising some 
of the most conservative and substantial citizens of Auburn. The paid-up capi- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 




E. D. CLAPP & CO.'S WORKS — 1809-74. 

till was $150,000, and the management of the business remained with the old firm, 
who were the largest stockholders. The first board of trustees was composed of 
the following gentlemen: E. D. Clapp, F. Van Patten, Charles Standart, Byron C. 
Smith, James G. Knapp, William B. Woodin, C. C. Dwight, J. N. Knapp, L. E. 
Carpenter, D. E. Clapp, P. S. Hadger and W. H. Meaker. The officers were E. D. 
Clapp, President and Treasurer ; L. E. Carpenter, Vice President ; D. E. Clapp, 
Secretary ; P. Van Patten, Superintendent. The business of the company soon 
demanded further accommodations, and in 1878 a large storehouse 50x40 feet, was 
erected over the trestle work at the north end of the company's grounds, and the 
foundations laid for the new three-story and basement brick buildings, fronting 
157 feet on Genesee street and extending back on Division street 236 feet, to the 
Southern Central Railroad. In 1879 a three-story brick building 40x80 feet, was 
erected, and thus completed a quadrilateral enclosed by buildings, the interior front- 
age of which exceeds 800 feet. In 1880 Mr. Clapp organized the Auburn Wrought 
Bit and Iron Company, with a capital of $60,000, and a rolling mill and forge shop, 
;^ 10x80 feet, was erected. This company was merged into the E. D. Clapp Manu- 
facturing Company in the following year, and the rolling mill and forge shop, com- 
bined with the other plant, formed the largest and most complete manufactory of 
carriage hardware in the United States. A growth so rapid and continuous, for 
so long a period, and during such sevei*e and general commercial and manufactur- 
ing depression, resulted from potent and peculiar causes. The manufacture of 
forged carriage irons by machinery is of comparatively recent origin. Before 1880 
the forging of small pieces of iron in dies, by drop-hammers, had been done in New 
England to a limited extent only. The war gave a great impetus to the science of 
drop forging for gun work, and at its close the experience thus gained was directed 
largely to improvements in the manufacture of carriage hardware. Mr. Van Pat- 
ten was entii"ely familiar with that form of forging and die sinking and was pre- 
pared to successfully adapt it to the new industry, while the practical experience 
of Mr. Clapp in carriage building enabled him wisely to direct the kind and style 
of work to be done. Hitherto this work had been done by hand with less perfec- 
tion and at much greater cost. A blacksmith shop and carriage shop had been neces- 
sary complements of each other. Now very little hand forging for carriages is 
done and only in remote localities. This radical change in the methods of ironing 
carriages is largely due to the persevering and intslligent efforts of Messrs. Clapp 
and Van Patten, who have made and generally introduced a more varied and prac- 
tical assortment of carriage forgings th:ui any other manufacturers in this country. 
They have introduced and are continually introducing new lines of goods; have 



70 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

invented and patented new articles and processes of manufacture, and secured the 
control of patented articles which have acquired great popularity in the trade. 
Their Centennial exhibit embraced nearly 400 pieces, which were the most complete 
and perfect of their kind exhibited, and were models of practical utility and me- 
chanical perfection. Then between 1876 and 1880 the manufacture of medium 
grade buggies sprang up in Cincinnati and other Western cities, and over 100.000 
a year were turned out in Cincinnati alone. No other manufacturers sujiplied 
complete sets of forged irons for carriages, and as a consequence a large propor- 
tion of the iron work for this great product was manufactured by the E. D. Clapp 
Manufacturing Company, to whom the orders naturally came by reason of their 
great facilities. To-day this company is in the most highly prosperous condition 
and gives employment to about 350 people. They mxnufaoture every piece of 
forged iron used in ironing a carriage. These are supplied in complete sets or in 
detached parts, as desired. No other manufacturers supply, as do this company, 
complete sets of forged iron work for carriages. The sets for top buggies contain 
over 100 pieces of hardware. Fifth wheels have been a specialty of the Ijusiness, 
and they can produce over 100,000 of them per year, without diminishing the pro- 
duction of their other goods. Their trade extends throughout all parts of the 
United States, Canada and Australia, and is steadily increasing. Besides con- 
ducting this large business, the company are extensive dealers in coal, having a 
trestle 500 feet in length on their property and handling annually from 150,000 to 
200,000 tons of coal. 

THE E. D. (JLAPr WAGON CO. 

Since 1853 Mr. Clapp had cherished the idea of manufacturing wagons on a 
Jarge scale by machinery, and in 1880 he prepared to put his ideas into practice. 
Having interested a number of the best known business men of this city in his en- 
terprise, he organized the E. D. Clapp Wagon Company (limited) with a capital 
stock of $300,000, and on the 16th of October, 1880, the incorporation of the com- 
pany was effected with the following directors and officers: E. D. Clapp, D, E. 
Clapp, F. Van Patten, R. S. Holmes, W. H. Seward, L. E. Carpenter, W. B. 
Woodin, C. C. Dwight, S. L. Bradley, L. E. Ijyon. James G. Knapp, John N. 
Knapp and W. H. Carpenter; E. D. Clapp, President and Treasurer; L. B. Car- 
penter, Vice President and purchasing agent ; D. E. Clapp, Assistant Treasurer; 
li. S. Holmes, Secretary; F. Van Patten, Superintendent. Mr. Clapp had pre- 
viously purchased twenty acres of land adjoining the E. D. Clapp Manufacturing 
Company's property, and in September, 1880, work was begun on the erection of 
buildings for the wagon factory. In four months the essential portions of the 
structure were ready for occupancy, and on New Year's eve the wagon factory 
was dedicated by a reception and ball which was attended by over 3,000 persons, 
among whom were the best people in this neighborhood. Next day the machinery 
was set in motion and wagon making begun. April 13, 1881, the day on which 
the first wagon was shipped, found the infant company with finished buildings 
1,000 feet in length, twenty acres of land, a railroad of its own connecting di- 
rectly with the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad and with the South- 
ern Central and Lehigh Valley Railroads; a very large stock of wagon material 
obtained mostly by purchase from seasoned stock in the hands of lumber dealers 
in their own locality; one million feet of prime oak, ash, maple, hickory, basswood 
and elm in the log ready for the saw; a finely equipped saw mill, a splendid assort- 
ment of the newest and most approved wood and iron working machinery, twenty- 
five finislied wagons and a sufficient stock of wheels and other parts ready for use. 



72 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 




m 





VIEW OF THE E. D. CLAPP COMPANY'S WORKS — 1884. 



10 enable the company to meet the apparent demand of the hour. At tlie 
time of the shipment of this first wagon, orders for about 100 wagons had been 
received without solicitation, owing entirely to the wide reputation of Auburn car- 
riage hardware, and to the fact that the management of the- wagon company was 
largely the same as that of the older and parent company. And right here the in- 
teresting fact might be noted, that some of the wagons made by Mr. Clapp more 
than thirty years ago are still in ' daily use, during the wagon season, and that one 
of them, heavily loaded with maple plank for the Wagon Company's use, was 
driven into their lumber yard a couple of years after the company started. 
This wagon was recognized by Mr. Clapp and pointed out to his associ- 
ates as a specimen of his early work. At no time since the 13th of 
April, 1881, has the company been able to say its orders were filled, and 
much of the time orders have been far in advance of their ability to fill. 
During the past three years they have built 10,090 wagons, 700 of which 
were sold in Cayuga County alone, and of the entire number fully two- 
thirds were sold in the State of New York. Their career thus far has been a 
great business success. But it could hai'dly have been otherwise, for no pains or 
expense were spared to provide material and means, machinery and men, to pro- 
duce the best wagon in the world. They began work only after a thorough exami- 
nation and investigation of all the improvements of the past fifty years. The shops 
of the best makers of wood-working machinery in the country were visited ; 
nothing was bought hurriedly but only after painstaking correspondence with par- 
ties having pi'actical experience in the use of the machines desired. The result is 
the best ecpiipped wagon factory in the world. The main building is a two-story 
frame structure, GO feet in width and 520 feet in length, with three wings, making 
the total length of buildings about 1,000 feet. The balance of the land owned by 
the company is covered with sheds and lumber yard. Three branch railroads run 
into the yard, and a narrow gauge track connects the wagon works with the rolling 
mill and other plant of the E. D. Clapp Manufacturing Company, from whence 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 73 

the greater supply of iron is drawn. About 200 men are employed in the wagon 
works. As showing the magnitude of the factory it might hi stated that the wood 
working department occupies two rooms, each 200x60 feet in dimensions; the gear 
room is 100x60 feet, and the other departments are of similar proportions. System 
reigns supreme throughout the establishment, and the manufacture of wagons 
here is really a study. Farm, freight, coal, lumber, ice and express wagons are 
built, and the demand for them throughout New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mary- 
land, Delaware, Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont is large and 
constantly increasing. It is justly claimed that the Auburn wagons are the best 
ironed, best painted and best constructed wagon in every respect now manufac- 
tured, and it is confidently believed that the day is not far distant when these 
claims will be acknowledged all over the Union. 

The value of the E. D. Clapp enterprises to the city of Auburn may bo judged 
froin the statement that the pay-roll of the two concerns amounts to from $12,000 
to $20,000 per month. Since the removal of the E. D. Clapp works to Genesee 
and Division streets, in 1874, this portion of the city has more than doubled in 
population and in many other ways have the beneficial effects of these enterprises 
hien shown. A typical self-made man, Mr. Clapp is also a representative citizen 
and one to whom much credit is due for the latter growth and prosperity of Au- 
burn. Besides the offices filled by him in the E. D. Clapp Manufacturing Com- 
pany, and the E. D. Clapp Wagon Comjiany, he is a director of the Southern 
Central Railroad, a trustee of the Cayuga County Savings Bank and a direc- 
tor of the First National Bank of Auburn. He still gives his personal attention 
to the management of the enterprises bearing his name, in which he is ably sec- 
onded by his son, Mr. D. E. Clapp, a young gentleman who seems to have inherit- 
ed all those sterling business qualities which have made the career of his father so 
eminently successful. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



THE AUBURN MANUFACTURING COMPANY — THE LARGEST MAN- 
UFACTURERS OF AGRICULTURAL HAND IMPLEMENTS IN THE 
WORLD. 



ONE of the most prosperous manufactories in the city, the works of the Au_ 
burn Manufacturing Company not only give employment to a large num. 
ber of people, and thereby add materially to the prosperity of the place, but 
through their products have made the name of Auburn familiar not only to the in- 
habitants of this country, but throughout the whole civilized world. One of the 
chapters on the Manufactui'ing Interests may, therefore, very appropriately be de- 
voted to this establishment, the annual product of which, in Hand Agricultural 
Implements, is believed to be the greatest in variety and quantity, of that of any 
factory in the world. 



74 AUBURN, N, Y., ITS 

This important enterprise was organized in 1867, untler tlie title of " E. C. Tut- 
tlc Manufacturing Company," witii'a capital of $300,000, of which the majority wag 
readily subscribed by citizens oC Auburn. The first officers of the Board of Directors 
were Chas. P. Wood, President, anl I. F. Terrill, Vice President, and of the Com- 
pany Dclos M. Keeler, Treas., and E. C. Tuttle, Superintendent, all well known and 
highly respected in social and business circles — and all of whom have now depart- 
ed this life. Ten acres of land were purchased of John Underwood, for a site for 
the location of their buildings, and water power of L. W. Nye, at the point known 
as Hackney Falls, in the Owasco river, where a fall of nearly 39 feet is gained, 
and an abundant power is secured for all present and prospective requirements of 
the business. Substantial brick buildings were at once erected, at a cost exceed- 
ing $103,000, fronting on Division street, and lying alongside the N. Y. C. R. 
R., and in a short time were filled with necessary tools and machinery, and the 
manufacture of their wares was cammenced. The first year's product amounted 
to some $50,003, which has gradually increased from year to year as the goods 
acquired reputation, vintil at the present date the aniount reaches the respectable 
sum of half a million dollars. 

Officers who have served the Company subsequent to the death of those named in 
the beginning of this article, and previous to the present incumbents, are, Geo. W. 
Leonard and A. 11. Goss, acting Secretary and Treasurer; James Henderson and 
C. M. Howlet, Treasurer; G. H. Doud, E. C. Denio, and G. F. Hague, Superin- 
tendents. In 1871 the name of the Company was changed to that of the Auburn 
Manufacturing Company. Up to that time and in a more marked degree since, 
the goods have gradually grown in popular favor, and in their dissemination have 
reached every quarter of the glolw. Many readers will remember with pleasure 
the imposing display of the Company at the Centennial Exiiibition in 1870, and 
not a few may be found who afterward, in 1878, saw the same Exhibit in Paris, at 
both of which, and in numberless other Exhibitions in our own and foreign coun- 
tries, the highest honors and awards have been achieved. 

Increasing demands from time to time have necessitated the enlargement of 
the various buildings, until at the present time they cover an area of some five 
acres and consist of theniain building, a brick structure fronting 3o0 feet on 
South Division street and 150 feet on Clark street, comprising tiio offices, ware- 
house, and shipping departments at one end, and the manufactory proper at the 
other. On the bank of the river, another three story brick building, 45x70 feet, 
covers the two immense water wheels, which arc connected witii the factory across 
the street by a tunnel. In this building is the machine shop and carpenter siiop 
and besides various parts of the mechanical works arc carried on here. Besides 
these buildings, there are the boiler and steam drying house, where steam is made 
for heating the establishment, and where handles are dried by steam, the capacity 
of the dry house being 4 car loads ; two large wooden structures for storage of han- 
dles; buildings for storage of steel and iron, coal and lumber, &e., &c., all of the 
most substantial construction and of capacity corresponding with the necessities of 
the business. 

Additional and improved machinery and tools are constantly being added to the 
plant, one of the latest additions being a set of the " Brand" hoe rolls, whose ope- 
ration is very interesting to witness, and which turns out hoes with great ease and 
rapidity. Of the implements manufactured by the Company, the following may 
be enumerated as the principal classes, of each of which there arc almost number- 
less varieties ; Hoes, Forks, Rakes, Wccdcrs, Potato Hooks, Manure Drags, Grain, 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 



75 



^. 1 - \ 




^M. 







'4i M n 



liwiiiP ■ 




CENTENNIAL EXHIBIT OF THE AUBURN MANUFACTURING COMPANY. 



76 



AUBURN, N. Y.. ITS 




Grass, Bush and Lawn Scythes, Grass Hooks, Hay Knives, Corn Knives, Handles, 
Ferrules, Swathes, Cradles, Mining Tools, Ice Tools, Oyster and Clam Tools, Stone 
Pickers, &c. , &c. And to one having a taste for mechanical operations, a day may 
be very pleasantly and profitably spent in witnessing the various operations neces- 
saiy in transforming the crude materials into beautifully polished and artistic as 
well as useful tools for the various purposes for which they are intended. Perhaps 
a description of the process by which a h(x> and fork are made may not be uninter- 
esting to the reader, A bar of steel of proper size is heated red hot and put un- 
der a press which strikes off a pattern for a hoe, in shape nearly square, with an 
irregular shaped piece attached to one end, which is drawn out in a die, under a 
trip-hammer and forms afterward the shank or neck of the hoe. After again beat- 
ing this square piece of steel, it is placed upon dies which are inserted in huge 
rolls, and as each revolution brings them together, the steel is rolled out llie de- 
sired thickness, but being ragged and in-egular in its shape, is afterward "cut 
out" at a blow in dies, under a press, of the shape and size desired. Again being 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 77 

heated it is "concaved " under a drop and put into whale oil, when it is found to 
possess the trowel temper, so desirable in this class of tools. After grinding, the 
neck is crooked or bent in a form and the hoe then passes to the polishing room, where 
it receives its polish upon emery wheels, and is then ready to be driven into the 
handle. A fork pattern is also cut from the end of a bar of steel and in a machine 
specially designed for the purpose is " slianked," " split," and " turned out," with 
the necessary number of tines, which are afterward drawn out in dies under a triji 
hammer, "bent and formed," hardened by being immersed in oil, and tempered in 
molten lead; then upon emery belts in the polishing room is made ready to "hang'' 
upon the handle, and for the market. All these operations are performed by free 
skilled labor, by which more satisfactory results are obtained, and their produc- 
tions are free from objectionable features which arise from cheaper prison contract 
labor by which many of similar goods are manufactured by theii- competitors. 
The monthly pay roll, divided among 150 men, is about $7,000. The stock used 
and the mechanics employed are the best of their class and the goods produced are 
second to none. 

The company enjoy exceptional railroad facilities, special sidings connecting the 
warehouse with the N. Y. C. R. R. and the Southern Central, a feeder of the 
great Lehigh Valley R. R., while the special rates given the company, enable 
them to ship their goods north, east, south and west, as well as to receive their 
stock and material, as cheaply as any manufactory in the United States. 

Branch offices and warehouses have been established by the company as follows: 
At No. 14 Chaussee de Charleroi, Brussels, Belgium, with Geo. W. Sillcox as 
manager, from whence all Continental Europe is supplied. Also at No. 97 Cham- 
bers street. New York, Durrie & McCarty, agents, from which stock the south- 
ern and southwestern trade, as well as the miscellaneous export trade, receive 
their goods, and where a general assortment may at all times be found. 

The present Treasurer and Manager, Mr. Charles E. Stevens, was appointed 
to his responsible position in 1879, having previously served the company faith- 
fully in other capacities for a number of years. This promotion was a deserved 
compliment, and his selection has proven the wisdom of the Board of Trustees, he 
having exhibited qualifications of a high order, for a prudent and successful con- 
duct of the business, which from that time seemed to receive a new impetus, and 
to-day the concern ranks among the foremost industries of this busy manufactur- 
ing city. The superintendent of the manufacturing department, Mr. A. P. 
Clarke, has acted in that capacity only during the present season, but being thor- 
oughly acquainted with these goods, and having been for many years engaged in 
their manufacture, and possessing the qualifications of a thorough mechanic, he is 
expected to contribute much to the future prosperity of the business. The Board 
of Directors consists of the following gentlemen : Orlando Lewis, President ; Sereno 
E. Payne, Vice President; Chas. 0. Briggs, Secretary; L. W. Nye, B. A. Tuttle, 
E. R. Fay, James Seymour, Jr., Jos. W. Dunning, Chas. E. Thorne, each of 
whom have a special care and pride for the institution, devoting much of their 
time in its interests. Especially is this true in the case of the President, who, be- 
ing thoroughly conversant with the general business affairs from day to day, by 
his counsels and advice renders valuable assistance. 

From this necessarily brief statement of the works and business of this com- 
pany, it will be seen that in all matters of location, capital, manufacturing facili- 
ties, acknowledged superiority of the wares produced, and the ability and enter- 
prise of its management, it sustains the highest rank, and its stockholders are to be 



78 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

congratulated upon their possessions and are doubtless well satisfied with the re- 
turns therefrom. And the citizens of Auburn may also well be proud of an insti- 
tution which so largely influences the prosiierity and welfare of their beautiful 
city. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



A. W. STEVENS & SON'S THRESHER AND FARM ENGINE MANU- 
FACTORY—A SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE. 



TO the thoughtful, intelligent person, the narration of the leading facts which 
have marked the growth and upbuilding of a great manufacturing enter- 
prise in these stirring times of business competition and rivalry, cannot 
but prove interesting. They suggest the possession of a vast amount of industry, 
sagacity and wide-reaching forethought on the part of the individuals or association 
who have thus pushed their ventures to pi-ominent success, and who still maintain 
a leading position, despite the most untiring efforts of wealthy and wide-awake 
congeners. Such a pleasure is afforded by a review of the events which have 
characterized the rise of the fine industry which is owned and operated in this 
city by the Messrs. A. W. Stevens & Son. In 1843, the manufacture of threshing 
machines was begun in a small way at Genoa, Cayuga County, by A. W. Stevens. 
Possessed of no small amount of mechanical skill and ingenuity, and a thorough 
knowledge of the elements necessary in the make-up of a successful and durable 
machine for threshing purposes, Mr. Stevens was able from the outset to build a 
thresher wliich accomplished, in a highly satisfactory manner, the work for which 
it was designed, and his machines rapidly became popular wherever introduced. 
A cardinal principle from the outset with Mr. Stevens, was to build his machines 
of the very best material and in the most thorough manner in all the details of 
their construction. This principle has never been deviated from, and the result 
has been that the growth of his trade has been steady from year to year and it haa 
been erected upon the most substantial basis. It is a fact to which this firm can 
point with pardonable pride, after a career extending over a period of forty-two 
years, that no machine ever sent out of their shops has ever been returned to them 
as unsuccessful. The founder of the business continued its sole owner until 1809, 
when his son, L. W. Stevens, was associated with him, and together they have 
since retained entire control and ownersliip of the industry. In 1878 the original 
works at Genoa were entirely destroyed by fire. At that time about 30 or 40 
hands were in the employ of the Messrs. Stevens, and the yearly out-put of thresh- 
ers was not large. Not at all discouraged by the burning of their works, they cast 
about for a larger field in which to re-establish their business. The extensive 
buildings owned by the IMessrs. Barber, of Auburn, located on Washington street 
and the outlet, liad been recently vacated by Dodge, Stevenson & Co., manufac- 
turers of mowers and reapers. These works were leased for a term of years by A. 



FACILITIES AND KESOUECES. 



79 



"yf 




^^ 






?:-*■& r.. 






A. W. STEVENS & SON's THRESHER MANUFACTORY. 

W. Stevens & Son, and with a larger force of men and increased facilities in all 
respects, they applied themselves with renewed vigor to the manufacture of their 
threshers, portable engines, horse-powers and French buhr feed mills. From the 
first year of their establishment here the growth of their business has gone on 
steadily. With the increase in the volume of their trade has come no lessening 
of the thoroughness with which all their wares have baen constructed, and careful 
attention has been given, as well to the adoption of such improvements year by 
year, as give promise, after strictest scrutiny, of adding efficiency and merit to 
their machines. In addition to the general elements of careful construction on 
the most approved mechanical principles, and the employment of only the best 
workmen and materials, some of the points of superior excellence which enter 
into the construction of the Stevens' threshing apparatus, may be noted with ad- 
vantage. The frame work of the thresher is peculiar in its construction, which 
renders it exempt from the possibility of sagging. The machine has a wrought 
iron concave, and an admirable concave adjuster. The cylinder is provided with 
self-lining boxes, and iron-side plates, wherein the boxes are held. The cylinder 
box has adjusting set screws, by means of which the cylinder is adjusted end-wise 
and tlie end play can be taken up, so that the teeth shall not ride one anotlier and 
cut the grain. The 3G-inch cylinder has but 56 teeth, the cylinders of other 
threshers having in some cases as inany as 112 or more teeth. This feature 
plainly causes a larger gain in economizing power. The lowness of the feed 
tables makes the work of getting the grain upon them comparatively easy, and 
they are sufficiently roomy and strongly built to support even three men, if neces- 
sary. The portable engines manufactured by the Messrs. Stevens are excellent in 
construction and have every feature which renders them easily superior to any 
others manufactured for the purposes to which they are devoted. A more de- 
tailed description of the widely known and universally popular threshing machin- 
ery manufactured by the Messrs. Stevens would be a work of supererogation. 



80 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

Suflfiee it to state in tliis connection, that before being sent out of the work?, every 
thresher is belted and operated, and every engine is fired and worked under a high 
pressure and heavy break, until they are entirely free and thoroughly adjusted in 
all respects, when they can be fully relied upon to do, in a parfeetly satisfactory 
manner, the work for which they are designed. The French buhr feed mill made 
by the Messrs. Stevens is an unusually successful mechanical contrivance. It is 
the generally admitted superior of all machines now manufactured for similar ser- 
vice. These feed mills are the acme of simplicity in their construction, being of 
few parts, durable, strong and complete. The stone in every mill is of genuine 
" French buhr new quarry," and no iron or chilled steel mill made can bear 
successful comparison with this machine. The Stevens feed mills are made in 
many sizes, the smaller being designed for individual use and the larger for busi- 
ness purposes. 

All parts of the machines manufactured by this enterprising and thorough- 
going firm are constructed in their fully equipped shops and foundry. This por- 
tion of the business is under the personal direction of the founder of the industry, 
who, though just approaching three-score years and ten, abates no jot of his 
wonted energy and activity, and is daily to be found among his operatives through 
working hours, guiding, instructing and efficiently directing the whole extensive 
mechanical affairs of the concern. The business direction of the enterprise is ably 
conducted by the son, Mr. L. W. Stevens, who, with a corps of clerks and book- 
keepers, occupies a neatly appointed office building just over the way from the 
Southern Central Railroad depot. The buildings originally taken possession of by 
the Messrs. Stevens on their advent in Auburn, consisted of the main factory and 
foundry, a brick structure, 300x40 feet, three stories in height, and a number of 
small adjoining buildings, to which several additions have been made since their 
occupancy of the premises, also 2 large ware houses. The ground covered by tho 
works roaches five or sis acres in extent. The power is supplied by the outlet, upon 
the immediate south bank of which the large factory building is located. 

From 100 to 120 men are employed, tho monthly pay-roll reaching the hand- 
some total of from $3,500 to $4,000. Each year there are produced at these 
works from 200 to 300 threshers, from 75 to 100 engines, 250 to 300 buhr stone 
feed mills, and a large quantity of smaller wares. In this connection it is inter- 
esting to note that the policy which has always been pursued by this firm, has been 
to manufacture each year only so many machines as might reasonably be expected 
to find a sale, when the natural increase of trade by the gain of new customers in 
already occupied territory, as well as through newly acquired territory, was taken 
into account. Hence no old stock is found lumbering their warehouses and de- 
preciating on their hands, and therefore buyers can rest assured that they get, in 
buying any of tho products of the Stevens' factory, nothing but the newest ma- 
chinery, possessing all the latest and most desirable improvements. This policy, 
too, has always kept tlieir factory open ; over-production has never closed their 
doors and sent their operatives adrift. It has been their rule to pay good wages, 
and keep their hands permanently employed. In this way a complete sympathy 
has been maintained between emj)loyers and tho employed and the most satisfac- 
tory results have baen obtained. Tho splendid business sue3333 which has been 
won by this worthy firm, for an industry modestly begun in a small out-of-the-way 
village, then transplanted by force of a disastsr v/hich would have overwhelmed 
men of smaller courage and energy to this thriving, active city, and thereafter 
pushed on from year to year by virtue of sound merit and large business sagacity, 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 81 

to its present considerable proportions and wide-spread reputation, z-edoimd very 
highly to the credit of the fortunate gentlemen who have thus made for them- 
selves an enviable standing among the important manufacturing enterprises of the 
land, and secured a patronage for their wares, which bring to them exclusively, 
as of right it should, a pecuniary remuneration in just proportion to the large 
outlay of brains and industry which they have made. The fortunes of this admir- 
able industry are so well grounded upon sound business principles and popular 
appreciation, that each succeeding year should, and doubtless will, bring but re- 
newed growth and larger prosperity. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



THE EMPIRE WRINGER CO.— THE BIRDSALL CO. —TWO IMPORT- 
ANT CONTRIBUTORS TO THE WEALTH OP THE CITY. 



THE P^mpiro Wringer Company, through the widespread popularity of the 
highly useful domestic implement which it manufactures, has made its 
name a familar one throughout the length and breadth of this land, as well 
as many foreign countries, and has had an important part in extending the reputa- 
tion and influence of Auburn as a manufacturing centre. This enterprise had its be- 
ginning in 1872, when a copartnership was formed by Messrs. C. M. Howlet, II. N. 
Lockwood, John S. Fowler, Jacob Brinkerholf, J. N. Starin, H. V. Quick and I.i. 
G. Barger, for the manufacture of the Empire Clothes Wringer, according to the 
patents of Jacob Brinkhcrhoflf, one of the members of the firm. The building occu- 
pied by the concern for ten years following was located on Division street. It was 
a four story brick structure, 84x48 feet, and the power was supplied by the outlet. 
The excellence of the wares produced, .the leading feature of which the company 
hold exclusive control of, through the purchase of the Brinkerhoff patents, gave 
this wringer a strong hold upon the public wherever introduced, and the sales grew 
rapidly from the outset. After several changes in the proprietorship of the^busi- 
ness, the entire plant passed by purchase into the hands of C. M. Howlet and E. 
C. Denio, in December, 1876. The company became at this time an incorporated 
one, the capital being $04,000. C. M. Howlet was made president and manager; 
E. C. Denio, secretary; Jacob Brinkerhoff general sales agent; and Henry J. 
White, superintendent'of the works. 

A vacancy in the secretaryship was occasioned in 1880, by the death of E. C. 
Denio. His successor, H. J. Sartwell, appointed January 1st, 1881, also died a 
few months later. With the beginning of the succeeding year, Mr. J. F. Hemenway. 
who had become a considerable stockholder, was elected Secretary, and has since 
continued to discharge the important duties of his office in an eliicient and thor- 
oughly satisfactory manner. The month of January of the present year was 
marked by the retirement from the presidency and managership of the Empire 



82 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 




Wringer Company, of Mr. C. M. Howlct, who had, since the establisliment of the 
business, been its able head and chief stockholder. The stock formerly owned 
by Mr. llowlet was sold largely to Mr. F. B. Chapman, late of the Sweet Manufac- 
turing Company, Syracuse. Mr. Chapman also succeeded to the office of manager 
vacated by Mr. llowlet. Mr. Chapman bears the reputation of a shrewd llnaneier 
and sagacious man of business. He has liad ample experience and Avill doubtless 
prove a worthy successor of the highly capable officer and courteous gentleman, 
whom he has replaced as manager. Mr. Jacob Brinkerhoff, the patentee of the 
Empire Wringer, who has all along been connected in an important way with its 
manufacture, at the late meeting of tlie directors was elecied president of the 
company. Mr. Brinkerhoff 's selection to succeed Mr. Howlet, was a fitting recog- 
nition of the many yeai-s of faithful devotion to the well-baing of the industry with 
which this sketch deals. His sound practical judgment and large discretion will 
enable liim to conduct the affairs of his office wisely and successfully. 

To deal more directly with thegrowtJi of the business of tliis corporation, it may 
be stated that in 1876, the sale of wringers reached 26,000, and in that year also 
the making of folding cots and washing benches was taken up and has since devel- 
oped^nto an important feature of the business. All of the articles manufactured 
by the Empire Wringer Company have features of positive merit, which have 
greatly commended them to the imblic everywhere, and the demand for them has 
therefore been large and growing, the increase in the general business of the com- 
pany for the past five years liaving baen not less than 59 p.ir cent. In 1832 the 
business was removed from its original location to a more commodious and eligible 
building on Washington street, a short distance north of tlie Southern Central 
Railroad track. This structure consists of a new brick building 180x42 feet, four 
stories high, with an attractive frame structure on Washington street, e<Mitaining 
the neatly appointed oirices and counting room. 

Upon the premises about sixty persons find employment. Tlic capacity of the 
works is over 100 wringers per day. This line enterprise was never more prosper- 
ous than at the present time, and the undoubted merit of its products, added to 




FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 83 

the experience and lar^e business sagacity of its managers, assures the Empire 
Wringer Company a higlily successful future. 

THE BIRDSALL COMPANY. 

The Birdsall Company, manufacturers of Traction and 
Portable Engines, Threshers and Saw ]Mills, first began 
business in Penn Yann, N. Y., in June, 18G0, under the 
name of H. Birdsall & Son, the firm being composed of 
Hiram and Edgar M. Birdsall. Their productions then 
consisted of threshers, horse powers, mowing machines 
and various agricultural implements. This business 
was conducted on a moderate scale for a time, but the 
diligent attention given to its details and the first class workmanship applied to its 
mechanical branches, soon brought its products into deserved popularity, and their 
business increased from year to year, as the reputation of their goods became more 
widely known. Up to the year 1874, the company had been confined to the manu- 
facture of horse-power threshers only. About this time steam power began to be 
used to some extent for threshing purposes, and this company began the manufac- 
ture of farm engines in conneotion with the threshing business. The same ener- 
gy and cai-eful attention to the perfection of their manufacture which has always 
characterized this company, was now directed towards the development of an en- 
gine that would would at once, by its economy and utility, maintain the reputa- 
tion of their products. As a result, their trade increased so rapidly that the busi- 
ness soon outgrew their facilities for supplying the great demand now made for 
this line of manufacture, and having to greatly enlarge and remodel their works at 
Penn Yan, or move to where more extended facilities could be afforded, they final- 
ly selected Auburn as their choice, and purchased the works formerly occupied by 
the Cayuga Chief Company, to which place they moved in October, 1831. Having 
now obtained all the facilities required for an increased production of their porta- 
ble engine and thresher, they resolved to further extend their line of manufac- 
ture. Acting upon this, after a series of cai'ef id experiments, they produced a trac- 
tion engine which attracts and claims ths attention and comnindation of every 
practical man, and the demand for which is continually growing in all sections of 
the United States. Attention was now directed toward an improvement in thresh- 
ing machines and the " New Birdsall Vibrating Thresher" stands in the foremost 
rank of this class of machinery. A growing want Avas now felt among the owners 
of comparatively small tracts of timber, situated remotely from permanent saw- 
mills, for a mill that could be moved from place to place, and thus save the 
vast amount of labor and expense in moving the timber. The company 
at onee interested itself in this problem, and the " Novelty Saw Mill," 
which has gained such a widespread reputation, is the result. Its simplici- 
ty and strength, and its ease of portability has given it a prominent place in all 
parts of the country. The popularity of the various products of this company and 
the ready sale which they meet, tax their facilities to their utmost capacity. 
They have built a lai'ge addition to their works, and have every facility requisite 
for conducting an enterprise of this character. There are upwards of 300 men em- 
ployed in the works, and in each and every department may be found the best 
skilled mechanics. Tiieir convenience of receiving raw material and of shipping 
their goods can not be excelled, the N. Y. C. R. R. having a switch directly through 
their main warehouse. 



84 AUBURN, X. Y.. ITS 

The past career of this company, united with the increasing demand for its pro- 
ducts, drawing as it does its necessary funds for maintenance from every part of 
the country to be distributed here, renders it at once one of the most valuable as 
well as the leading manufactory in its line, in our midst. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



JOSIAH BARBER & SONS' CARPET MANUFACTORY — THE AUBURN 
BUTTON COMPANY — THE LOGAN SILK MILLS. 



THE extensive manufactory of carpets and woolen cloths which is located on 
the west side of Washington street, at the crossing of the Owasco outlet, 
and owned and operated by the firm of Josiah Barber & Sons, is the im- 
portant outgrowth of an industry which had a small beginning in what was known 
as the " old red mills," located near the State Prison building-s, in the year 1829. 
At that time Josiah Barber, a native of Hudson, Columbia County, who for 
twenty yeai-s had been engaged in the making of woolen goods, a trade in which 
he had been preceded by his father, removed to tlais city and began the manufac- 
ture of fli'.nncls and other cloths in the historical building to whicli allusion has 
been made. In addition to his individual business, he was one of the large early 
prison contractors, in the conduct of which operations he was associated for sev- 
eral years with John Loudon. Meeting with large success in his affairs in 1846-7 
Mr. Barber began the erection of the group of mill structures, (the last being com- 
pleted in 1864) in which the large business is now carried on. Tliese mills stand 
upon the former site of the saw and planing mills of Samuel Dill, one of 
the earliest establislied manufacturing entei-prises of Auburn. In 1859 Mr. Bar- 
ber admitted to partnership with himself his sons, William C. and George E., by 
whom the business has been conducted since their father's death at an advanced 
age in 1880, Josiah Barber was for more than half a century one of the foremost 
citizens of Auburn, and had an active part in pushing on the forttfties and ad- 
vancing the general interests of the place. That he was a man of large business 
capacity and worth, the splendid industry built up by his energy and ably eon- 
ducted by him through a long term of yeai-s, amply evidences. Ilis successors 
have proved eminently worthy of the important trust committed to their guid- 
ance inider whicli the business of the Barber mills continues to tlirive and prosper. 
To sketch more in detail the features of this industry, it should be stated that the 
acill Ijuildiiig located on the south side of tlie outlet was the first erected for the 
manufacture of carpets. This structure is 150x50 feet, four stories liigh, with 
basement. It is equipped with eight sets of cards and thirty-six power carpet 
looms. The goods manufactured are two-ply ingrain carpets, and the reputation of 
these wares in the markets is very high. The mill on the north side of the 
outlet is devoted to the manufacture of woolen cloths, designated as " cassimeres" 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 85 

and " suitings." This mill is 300 feet long and 54 feet in width, and is partly 
four stories, and partly three stories high. This mill contains 10 sets cards and 
48 broad looms. In both mills about 200 persons find employment. During each 
year about 1,000,000 pounds of wool are consumed, and about 400,000 yards of 
cloth and carpets are produced, worth at wholesale above $500,000. The goods 
produced at these mills are sent to New York for sale and distribution. The capi- 
tal employed is $350,000 and the business is owned exclusively by the family of 
the founder of the industry. In addition to the structui'es in the immediate use 
of the Messrs. Barber for mill purposes, there are a large number of buildings 
surrounding their mills which are a portion of the great property acquired by the 
business sagacity of their father and themselves. Among these are the Southern 
Central Railroad depot buildings, the Stevens' thresher works, the works of the 
Empire Wringer Company, and a large factory, which forms the rear portion of 
their carpet mill which until recently was occupied as a factory by O'Neill, Ilickey 
& Co., which buildings of these several concerns cover perhaps twenty acres and 
their combined value reaches a very large sum. The power supplied by the outlet 
for a considerable distance is also controlled by the Messi-s. Bai'ber, as they are own- 
ers of a large track of land extending along either side of the stream. While 
there can be small doubt that the fine industry to which this article has been de- 
voted will under its present capable management continue to prosper and develop, 
it is also a matter of equal certainty that the general welfare of the city in which 
this enterprise is located will continue to be benefited by its presence here and by 
virtue of the large means, liberal tendencies, and public spirit of its worthy pro- 
prietors. 

THE AUBURN BUTTON COxMPANY. 

Situated on the north side of Logan street, a short distance east of South street, 
is the extensive and sightly brick factory building occupied conjointly by the Au- 
burn Button Company and the Logan Silk Mills. This building as originally 
constructed in 1870-80, had a frontage of 132 feet on Logan street and a depth of 
75 feet. A boiler house 20x31 feet, stood at the rear. The growth of the busi- 
ness of the Button Company and the establishment of the Silk Mills industry 
necessitated the subsequent enlargement of the works, and the factory as it now 
exists, has the form of a double " L " covering three sides of a square of 200 feet, 
and a grand total of 75,000 square feet of floor room is afforded by the three 
stories. The equipment of this great building is most complete in all respects. 
The steam for heating the entire works, and for driving the splendid Porter & Al- 
len high speed engine of 100 horse power, is supplied by a battery of four large 
boilers. The various other mechanical appliances of the works are of the 
most excellent construction, the money outlay on this plant having been nec- 
essarily very large. The growth of the two important enterprises which are 
being carried on at these works has been very rapid and marked by events 
of no little interest to the public generally. Of the Logan Silk Mills a descrip- 
tion is afforded in another sketch. To sum up briefly the history of the Auburn 
Button Company, it may be said that this enterprise had its inception in 1876, 
when J. H. Woodruff, a native of Auburn, began in New York the manu- 
facture, in a small way, of pearl and composition buttons. One year later 
Mr. Woodruff returned to Auburn, and established a manufactory in the build- 
ing at the rear of the post office on Exchange street, then but recently va- 
cated by the Paper Bag Company. At first, only a few hands were employed, 



86 



AUBURN, X. Y., ITS 




I I 




THE AUBURN BUTTOX WORKS AND LOGAN SILK MILLS. 

but the excellence of the wares iiroduced and the energy and enterprise of 
Mr. Woodruff, caused a rapid development of the entci-prise. His brothers, B, 
D. and P. C. Woodruff, soon came to have an interest in the business, which con- 
tinued to grow rapidly. After building the works on Logan street, a stock company 
was formed and the enterprise has continued to be opci'ated since as a stock concern. 
The development of the business in so short a time, from an humble beginning into 
one of the leading and most finely equipped enterprises of this city, reflects high 
credit upon the business capacity of the founder, and together with the gentlemen 
who later became identified with the project, ho deserves well of this community 
for adding this fine institution to the growing manufacturing interests of the city. 

THE LOGAN SILK MILLS. 

Occupying a considerable portion of the large building of the Auburn Button 
Company, on Logan street, a description of which occurs in the i^rcceding sketch, 
is to be found one of the most prosperous and notable industries of Auburn, 
namely, the Logan Silk Mills. This business was established under the firm name 
of Woodruif Brothers and Beardsley, in 1881, and in March, 1883, a stock company 
styled the Logan Silk Mills, was incorporated, of \vhic!i A. G. Beardsley, Jr., is the 
secretary and treasurer and active manager. The Logan Silk Mills are equipped 
with 100 looms, the driving power being supplied by the great Porter & Allen en- 
gine of the Button Company. The jiroducts of the mills have an unsui-jxassed standing 
for excellence of make and quality. They include dress silks, satins, serges and 
handkerchiefs. In these works about 200 persons find employment. The capital 
invested in this enterprise is very large, and the annual production of the mills 
reaches from $200,000 to $250,000 worth of goods. Like the Button Company, 
the Logan Silk Mills sell no goods directly to the trade, but ship them to a com- 
mission house for distribution to the trade at large. The rapid rise of this busi- 
ness, which stands to-day on a footing of equality in regard to the character of the 
goods produced with any similar industry in the country, and bears favorable com- 
parison with many mills of much longer existence in point of the extent of its 
annual out-put, shows the business has been jnanaged with excellent judgment 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 87 

and pushed forward with great energy. The Logan Silk Mills, while proving a 
fortunate business venture for those owning the stock, also does much credit to 
Auburn as one of the best conducted and most successful industries of the city. 



CHAPTER XX. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



THE AUBURN WOOLEN CO. —THE CANOGA WOOLEN CO. —NYE & 
WAIT'S CARPET MANUFACTORY — WOODCOCK & CO., THE 
MACHINISTS. 



IN tracing the history of Auburn's manufacturing interest back through the 
years that have passed, following up the growth of the city, whicli has in- 
creased as these manufactories grew and multiplied, the reader cannot but be 
impressed with the fact that to the superb power furnished by Ovvasco outlet, is 
the city to a great extent indebted for its present position. -Clustered around 
what is known as the big dam, south of Genesee street, on the outlet, are many 
manufactories, the most prominent among which are the largo and imposing 
buildings of the Auburn Woolen Co. The first woolen factory, which stood where 
this manufactory is situated, was erected in 1847, and was but a small concern in 
comparison with the present busy hive of industry. Passing through several 
hands, in 1863 it came into the possession of the present proprietors, a stock com- 
pany formed for the purpose of manufacturing on a large scale woolen goods. 
Erecting additional buildings, placing new and improved machinery in the factory 
as the needs gave occasion, the enterprise has gone forward to a successful fruition 
of the hopes of its promoters. The buildings occupied by the company at the 
present time, are a main factory, 230x55 feet in dimensions, five stories and attic, 
with annex of 50x80 feet, 4 stories in height; a dye and boiler l;ouse, 240x40 feet, 
two stories; a picker building, 100x40 feet, one story; and the office building 
100x30 feet in dimensions. All are built of brick and present a solid and sub- 
stantial appearance. A large barn, also of brick, and a gas house, where the gas 
used in the factory is made, complete a cluster of buildings, forming one of the 
most complete establishments of the kind in the country. In the picking room is 
located the machinery which picks and separates the matted wool. Here there is 
always danger from fire, on account of winch this building is separated from tho 
balance of the buildings. In the dye rooms are tubs or vats where the wool, after 
passing tlu'ough tlie spinning rooms, from which it emerges yarn, receives its color. 
The first floor of the main building is the finisliing room. In it are located the 
machinery for scouring, fulling, shearing and pressing. Here the goods arc also 
examined before being folded and prepared for market. Tlie second floor contains 
twenty-one sets of cards, there being three machines to each set, viz., a first 
breaker, second breaker and carder. On the third and fourth floors are located tho 
spinning machinery, consisting of jacks, mules and twisters. The fifth floor con- 
tains 80 broad looms. The attic is used for storage. Perhaps a better idea can bo 



88 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

formed of the business by stating that 1,250,000 lbs. of wool are used annually in 
producing the 800,000 yards of goods woven here. Power is furnished by the big 
dain (of v.'hich the Auburn Woolen Co. own the larger share,) and a steam engine of 
150 horse power. The buildings are connected by bridges and other means of com- 
munication, and fire escapes conveniently arranged attest the care of tlie corpora- 
tion for the safety of its employes. The office contains a uiuque piece of furniture, 
in the electric watch detector. The office is connected with different stations, 
which the watchman must visit on his different rounds, and by pressing a button 
the time at which the station is visited is registered in the otBce. An inspection of 
this ingenious piece of mechanism, reveals the watchman's attention to his duties. 
Each floor in the factory is supplied with a patent automatic fire extinguisher, 
which is so arranged that when the heat reaches a certain temperature, water is 
released and floods the room. The active members of this, one of Auburn's larg- 
est and most important manufacturing establishments, which gives employment to 
400 people, and pays out $15,000 a month in wages, are the Messrs. William G. 
Wise and Samuel Laurie, and to the ability of these gentlemen, the uniform success 
of this corporation is due. 

CANOGA WOOLEN CO. 

Established about 1850, the mill of the Canoga Woolen Co. was bought and 
sold, passing through several hands, some times successful, at other times not, 
until the year 1873, when it wns purchased by Messrs. Wm. G. Wise and Samuel 
Laurie, capitalists of the city, who had long experience in the woolen business. Un- 
der their administration, the mill was soon transformed. The capacity was en- 
larged and new machinery introduced, from time to time, until now it is one of the 
best equipped establishments of its size in the country. The buildings occupied, con- 
sist of the main factory, a four story and attic building, built of stone, 100x45 feet 
in dimensions; the dye house, a frame building, one story, 40x100 feet; and the wool 
house, 80x25 feet in dimensions. The plant is most complete in every respect, and 
is protected by the patent automatic fire extinguisher. Twenty looms are 
constantly running, producing annually 200,000 yards of the best woolen goods, 
and consuming 350, OCO lbs. of wool per year. Eighty people are given employ- 
ment and $2,000 are paid out per month for wages. The company liave erected 
fifteen tenement houses for their employes, and all measures tending to the ad- 
vancement of the interests of the people, receive from them a hearty response. 
Messrs. Wise and Laurie are both active and liberal citizens whose public worth 
are recognized. Giving employment to a large number of people and bringing in- 
to Auburn large amounts of money each year, they should and do hold a high 
place in the esteem of the people of this city. 

NYE & WAIT. 

Furnishing an immense hydraulic power, Owasco outlet is lined on cither side by 
l)usy jnanu factories, giving employment to thousands of workingmen, and producing 
annually millions of dollars worth of manufactured articles. One of the most im- 
portant of these establishments is the large carpet maim factory of Nye & Wait, at«Nos. 
11 to 19 North Division street. The history of this firm dates back to 1853, when 
Carhart & Nye leased Josiah Barber's factory and run it till 1853, in wiiich year 
they dissolved. L. W. Nye then bought the building, wliich had been erected in 
181G by Elijah Miller and John IL Beach, who in 1814 had purchased of Samuel 
Dill ten acres, including the fall, on lot 40 of the military tract. This building 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 89 

was used as a cotton factory and was continued as such by Mr. Nye until 1808. in 
October of which year he leased it to Messrs. Howlet & Bailey. The building 
was partially destroyed by fire in 1869, but in 1870 was rebuilt into a large four 
story structure, for a carpet factory. In March, 1871, a copartnership was formed 
between Mr. Nye and Wni. F. Wait, for the manufacture of extra superfine in- 
grain carpets, under the firm name of Nye & Wait. The partnership proved a 
very wise proceeding, for the business then established by them has steadily grown 
until now about 200 people are given employment, and the monthly pay roll shows 
an average payment of |5,000 a month, as wages. Although Messrs. CI. H. Nye 
and Samuel Lyon, the son and son-in-law of tlie senior member of the firm, were ad- 
mitted to the partnership, the former in 1876, and the latter in 1881, the firm name 
has not been changed, and, in fact, the only change that has taken place since the 
organization, has been this strengthening of the firm and the marked progress of 
the enterprise. The facilities possessed by Nye & Wait for the manufacture of fine 
ingrain carpets, are probably unsurpassed by any otlier concern in the country. 
Two large stone and brick buildings are occupied, besides dye, boiler and store 
houses, each of which are fine specimens of industrial architecture. The main 
building is 200x50 feet in dimensions and four stories in height. Erected espe- 
cially for this business, it is very conveniently arranged, the first floor being occu- 
pied by the picking and drying room, dye, scouring and wheel rooms, where the 
wool undergoes a preparatory course before reaching the carding and spinning 
room on the second floor. This floor contains six automatic carders (self-feeding 
and self-weighing) and three mule spinners of 208 spindles each. The third floor 
is occupied as a weaving department, containing fifty looms, and the fourth floor 
is devoted to the finishing of the carpets, besides containing three mules and wind- 
ing and warping machinery. The second building is a four-story structure, 85x50 
feet in dimensions. The basement of this building is occupied by Woodcock & Co's 
(Nye, Wait & L. M. Woodcock,) machine shop and the first and second floors for 
the manufacture of the worsteds used by the firm, and the third floor for sur- 
plus machinery. In this department are 1,800 spindles in constant operation. 
A water wheel of 200 horse-power drives the machinery in the various depart- 
ments, besides which a stationary engine of 150 horse-power is always in readiness 
for any emergency that may arise. Over 437,500 yards of ingrain carpets are an- 
nually produced by Nye & Wait, and their products have obtained an enviable 
reputation in the leading markets of the country. Disbursing large amounts of 
money in this city and adding so largely to the industrial reputation and prosper- 
ity of Auburn, the value of such an industry to the community cannot be over- 
estimated, and therefore no apology is necessary for the extended notice that has 
been accorded them. Personally, the members of the firrti are worthy of mention in 
any work purporting to speak of Auburn as it was and is, and to what causes is 
due its rapid growth. Mr. L. W. Nye's business sagacity and forethought are 
recognized ; Mr. Wm. F. Wait has been engaged in the carpet business from boy- 
hood, coming to Auburn from Washington county, N. Y., where he had been en- 
gaged with his father in the manufacture of these goods. The younger members of 
the firm have the reputation of being thorough business men, and all have done 
or are doing much to benefit the city of Auburn. To such men is due the credit 
for its growth and prosperity and such industries are the causes which have so won- 
derfully changed the Auburn of the past into the Auburn of the present. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 91 

WOODCOCK & CO. 

The business of Woodcock & Co., the iron founders and machinists, has shown 
a wonderful growth, and obtained a high rank among concerns of this character 
^in Auburn. When the copartnersliip was formed in 1876 batween L. M. Wood- 
cock and Nye & Wait, a portion of the carpet factory basement was fitted up for 
a machine sliop and a few men were employed, the work coming mainly from the 
needs of Nye & Wait's establishment. It was not long, however, before the repu- 
tation of Mr. Woodcock as a machinist attracted the attention of other city con- 
cei'ns and orders began to come in with considerable rapidity. The facilities were 
gradually increased and the business soon became of such importance that it could 
stand alone. In 1881 the facilities were again largely increased by removing the 
machine shop to the first floor of the worsted building, where with larger quarters 
they were enabled to fill the heaviest orders conveniently. And in a few years the 
business has grown from the employment of a few workmen, doing mainly the work 
required by the carpet factory, to the employment of a force of 40 men doing work 
for some of the largest concerns in this section. The plant now includes a fully 
equipped machine shop, 50x85 feet in dimensions; a foundry, 50x80 feet, having 
two cupolas with a capacity for melting six tons of metal daily ; a blacksmith 
shop, 18x18 feet; a tumbling room, 18x20 feet, an extra moulding shed, 40x30 
feet, an'd a pattern store-house containing more than .$30,000 worth of patterns. 
This stock of patterns is very complete, and additions to it are constantly being 
made. About $2,000 are paid out as wages every month. Gear cutting is made a 
specialty by Woodcock & Co., large orders being filled for large concerns in the 
United States and Canada, and a general jobbing trade is drawn from all the sur- 
rounding country. All the special machinery for the Nye & Wait carpet factoiy is 
constructed here, and the ability of the concern to fill orders in every branch of the 
business has been fully demonstrated. The success of Woodcock & Co. is due not 
only to the fostering care of the gentlemen representing the capital of the firm, 
but to the ability shown by Mr. Woodcock in the management ef the business. 
That the position they have reached in this short time is a permanent one there 
can be no doubt, and that the future is filled with still brighter promises is con- 
fidently predicted. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



THE AUBURN TOOL COMPANY — DAVID WADSWORTH & SON, 
SCYTHE MANUFACTURERS — C. W. CONKLIN — AUBURN IRON 
WORKS. 



AMONG those manufacturers who, establishing a business on a small scale, 
have won success and become large producers, whose products are shipped 
to all parts of the country, carrying the name and fame of Aubui'n as a 
centre of manufacture and enterprise throughout the entire land, the firm now 
known by the title of the Auburn Tool Company . deserves most honorable men- 



9a AUBURN, X. Y., ITS 

tion. In 1823, Messrs. Truman J. Mc Master and Hon. Nathan GaiTow contracted 
with th3 authorities of Auburn prison for convict labjr at 40 cents per day for 
each convict, and began to manufacture wood planes and plane bits in the prison. 
The business was continued under different firms until the year 1847, when the 
cimtract was pui'chased by Mr. George Casey and others, under the firm name of* 
Casey, Kitchell & Go. In 1858, Mr. Casey bought the interest of his partners and 
formed a new firm with J. N. Starin, Nelson and Abijah Fitch, Noah P. Clark 
and Alonzo G. Beardsley, as partners, under the name of Casey, Clark & Co. 
They conducted the business very successfully until October, 1834, when, believing 
it could be carried on more satisfactorily, it was resolved to form a stock company 
under the name of the Auburn Tool Co. The capital was fixed at $75,000, which 
was subsequently increased to $100,000, and Mr. George Casey was elected Presi- 
dent, Mr. Nicholas L. Casey, Treasurer, and Mr. Nelson Fitch, Secretary. In 1866, 
John M. Easterly, believing there was big profit in convict labor, outbid the Tool 
Company for the labor of the convicts. The company at once opened a manufacto- 
ry on Miller street, near the big dam. The Easterly party soon lost enough money 
to desire to sell his prison contract, and the Tool Company again secured it. Mr. 
Casey, however, was not satisfied with the amount of labor performed by the con- 
victs, and in 1870, having purchased the present site, which gave good water 
[)Ower and plenty of room, erected buildings, moved the factory to the new place 
and cancelled the prison contract. On the strength of the statement that the 
business has increased fully 300 per cent, since the removal, who can doubt that 
the change was a wise proceeding? The works are situated on Aurelius avenue, 
on the south side of the outlet, and occupy the site of the old paper mill which 
burned down previous to 1870. The main buildings are two stone structures, one 
60x90 feet in dimensions, three stories and an attic, and the other 35x55 feet, 
two stories; a one-story wood and stone structure, 135x35 feet, occupied as a forge 
shop, and the seasoning shed, 26x600 feet in dimensions. On the first floor of the 
main building are two 90 horse power water wheels, which drive the machinery. 
The store-rooms in the main building are fire proof, and contain, at times, more 
than $30,000 worth of finished stock. The material for the plane bits is of the 
best quality, and is all worked out from the rough stock in the factory. For the 
handles, or frames, that part of the beecli is used which is nearest the bark, and 
this stock remains in the seasoning sheds for two years previous to use. The 
works are equipped with the latest and most improved tools and the establishment 
is really a model one. The pay-roll of this concern contains the names of 70 per- 
sons employed in the factory, $3,000 per month being paid out as wages. About 
300,000 planes are manufactured annually, nearly one-half of which are toy planes, 
such as are seen in toy tool chests. A contract for 150,000 of these toy planes is 
being filled at the time of writing. Of bits for the planes, almost double the 
amount required for the planes finished here are manufactured, the surplus being 
exported to Australia, Brazil, and large (pumtities to Canada, where they are 
more highly prized than those of English manufacture. Although the steel is im- 
ported from England, a duty i)aid on it, manufactured into bits, and a 30 per 
cent, duty then paid on those sent into Canada, the Auburn Tool Company are 
not only entering into competition with England for the trade of Canada, but se- 
curing it. So much for American skill, wisely directed. The finished planes are 
shipped throughout the entire United States, as well as to other countries, the 
largest patronage, however, coming from the new and fast growing Western 
Slates. The officers of the Au))urn Tool Company, at present, are as follows : 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 93 

George Casey, President: N. L. Casey, Treasurer; Noah P. Clark, Secretary. 
The majority of the stock is owned by Mr. Casey and his son, P. P. Casey, who, 
with N. L. Casey, are the active members of the concern. To Mr. George Casey, 
who, entering into the business with confidence in its ultimate success, devoted all 
his energy to guiding and directing it to the high place the concern now occupies 
in the i-egard of the consumers of these goods, the honor is due for the successful 
establishment and continuance of this industry, which adds so materially to the 
prosperity and industrial I'cputation of the city. He is the oldest male survivor of 
the first settlers of Auburn, (Mrs. Graves being the oldest survivor,) and is a 
gentleman whose real worth cannot fail to be recognized. Though 77 years old, 
he is to be found every day actively engaging in his duties at the office. 

DAVID WADSWORTH & SON. 

Away back in the year 1800, Joseph Wadsworth, the father of the senior mem- 
ber of the firm of David Wadsworth & Son, began manufacturing scythes in the 
State of Massachusetts. With varying success he conducted the business for a 
number of years, and then, becoming of the opinion that a more profitable field 
would be opened up in New York, in 1818 he removed to this city. Starting up 
on the site subsequently occupied by the Dodge & Stevenson Manufacturing Co., 
he was confirmed in his opinion that here was the proper field for his enterprise, 
and with considerable success he conducted the business on this site for a period of 
ten or eleven years. Then in 18.39 he purchased of Benjamin Sweet, the tract of 
land now occupied by the manufactory on Owasco outlet, near the western limits 
of the city, on which stood an old carding mill, and converting it into a scythe 
manufactory, removed his business to this location. Here he continued until 
1845, when he retired with a competence and rented the property to his son David. 
The works were carried on by the latter until 1849, when they were willed to 
David Wadswoi'th. Having grown up in the business and thoroughly mastered 
the business in all its details, David Wadsworth was especially well fitted to take 
charge of it and continue it with success. Besides being an enei-getic man, he 
possessed a keen foresight that made him quick to adopt all the new and improved 
processes in manufacturing, and observing a liberal policy in his dealings with 
patrons he largely increased the patronage of the establishment. But the simple 
statement that the business has increased 1,000 per cent, between the time when 
he assumed control of it and the present, will best illustrate the growth of the 
concern and the success of its proprietor. Admitting his son, David Wadsworth, 
Jr., whom he had educated to a full knowledge of the business, to a partnership 
in July, 187G, the way lias undoubtedly been prepared for a continuation of the 
name and reputatifin of the Wadsworth scathes for many years to come. Indeed, 
but a few years are lacking to complete the century during which the name of 
Wadsworth has been continuously associated with the manufacture of these imple- 
ments in the United States. The main buildings occupied by the firm of David 
Wadsworth & Son were erected between the years 1860 and 1867, and consist of a 
hammer-shop, 300x55 feet in dimensions; grinding shop, 150x30 feet and a polish- 
ing and finishing shop, 100x30 feet. These buildings are substantial brick and 
stone structures, one, one-and-a-half and two stories in height. Besides these 
buildings there are two frame storehouses, 30x60 and 36x24 feet in dimensions, 
two stories in height, and a neat one story brick building occupied by the offices. 
Fully equipped with the most improved machinery designed for the purpose, the 
factory is undoubtedly entitled to a high rank among the manufacturers of this 



94 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 



class of goods. In addition to the 150 horse power furnished by the waters of 
Owaseo outlet, the establishment is supplied with a stationary engine of 75 horse 
power, and in all other respects is prepared for emergencies that might arise and 
pi-event the filling of orders. A working force of about 100 men is employed and the 
pay roll amounts to about $5,000 per month. About 25,000 dozen scythes, 3,000 
dozen hay knives, and 12,000 dozen grass hooks and corn knives are manufactured 
annually. The trade extends throughout the entire United States, and consign- 
ments are also made to Germany. 




C. W. CONKLIN. 

Twelve years ago, as a young but thoroughly experienced and skillful workman, 
C. W. Gonklin opened a shop at 27 Water street for the manufacture of boilers 
and sheet iron work. A reputation for first class work was honestly won, and by 
close attention to business a growing trade was established. In 1880, Mr. Conklin 
removed his business to a large frame structure on Washington street next 
north of the A. W. Stevens' threshing works. This shop is a lofty building, 
100x40 feet, and is fully equipped with all the improved machinery known to the 
ti'ade. Fourteen hands are constantly employed, and each year upwards of 200 
finished boilers, for all sorts of uses, are produced. In addition, a large amount 
of sheet iron work for other purposes is manufactured. The wares produced by 
C. W. Conklin have a wide-spread reputation for thoroughness of construction 
and the excallencs of the materials from which they are made, and their sale 
reaches even to very remote points. No industry of the kind, wherever located, is 
better conducted. A feature of the business recently entered upon is the manu- 
factux-e of the "Auburn Heater," an apparatus invented by Mr. Frank Pulsifer 
for use in heating buildings by steam. This is the best device for the purpose now 
offered to the public, and the making of this article will doubtless grow rapidly to 
form an important part of the industry managed by Mr. Conklin. 

AUBURN IRON WORKS. 

The Auburn Iron Works, located on the south bank of the outlet and directly 
across from the prison, were built in 1853, by Charles Richardson, who continued 
proprietor of the business until 1868. The mills were constructed at the outset 
for the manufacture of car axles. In 1859, the nuiking of bar iron and horse 
shoes was taken up and continued imtil the change of ownership in 1808. The 
business was purchased of Richardson by Messrs. Tuttlc, Reed & Bennison, who 
in turn were succeeded by Tuttle & Reed. The making of horse shoes was aban- 
doned when Tuttle, Rood & Dennison purchased the business, and the manufacture 
of merchant bar iron was resumed, and ha? continued the lealing feature of the 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 95 

business to the present time. In July, 1883, a further change in the proprietor- 
ship of the Auburn Iron Mill occurred, the firm becoming C. W. Tuttle & Co. 
The individual members of the association are H. N. Howland, C. W. Tuttle and 
Orlando Lewis. The Auburn Iron Mills comprise three structures, viz. : the mill 
and iron house, a frame building, 150x75 feet, a store house, and the office building. 
The mill is equipped vyith two engines, one of 80 and one of 20 horse power, and a 
steam hammer of 50 horse power. The capacity of the works is 2,000 gross tons per 
year. From 35 to 50 hands are employed, and the monthly pay-roll reaches 
$1,500. The amount invested in the plant is about $70,000. 

This industry, after an existence of over thirty years, is one of the sound, reliable 
manufacturing enterprises of the city. Its facilities were never better, the qual- 
ity of its productions is generally admitted to be a No. 1, and under the manage- 
ment of its present experienced and sagacious proprietors, a continuation of its 
past prosperity, with further development and enlargement of its lines, are 
assured facts, 

t 



CHAPTER XXII. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



W. W. CRANE, THE IRON FOUNDER AND MACHINIST — SHAPLEY & 
PETERS, MACHINISTS— ISAAC W. QUICK, REAPERS AND MOWERS 
—AUBURN AGRICULTURAL WORKS. 



IN 1839, Mr. John Gaylord, who subsequently built the Gaylord House, estab- 
lished at Nos. 22, 24, 26 and 28 Water street, a foundry for the purpose of 
doing a general jobbing and custom business, in iron. He was quite success- 
ful, and in 1846, added a machine shop, but after a time desiring to engage in 
other business, in 1862 retired and rented the premises to Messrs, Merrill, Wilder 
& Co, These gentlemen were not so fortunate, however, and were obliged to close 
out in 1875, when the stock was all sold. Mr. Wellsley W. Crane, an English 
mechanic of energy and ability, thought he saw, an opportunity for establishing 
himself in a business that might be developed into a lucrative undertaking, and, un- 
dismayed by the failure of these gentlemen, he became the proprietor of the estab- 
lishment. Energy and ability, combined svith good, sturdy common sense, won 
that success which the fickle goddess Fortune not unfrequently vouchsafes to the 
really deserving, and Mr. Crane prospered in his venture. Indeed, he was more 
successful than he dared to hope, and his business increased so rapidly that in 
1881 he was compelled to seek more commodious quarters. Purchasing the prop- 
erty at Nos. 122 and 124 Clark street, in the fall of that year he began the erection 
of the buildings now occupied. His practical experience had taught him that there 
were many features which, if observed in the erection of such buildings, would add 
materially to the conveniences of the establishment, and he also realized the fact 
" that he who looks after the comfort and convenience of his workmen adds to his 
own profits." Accordingly the new buildings were planned and completed under 



96 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

his personal supervision, the result being one of the most comfortable and conven- 
ient buildings for this business that could be desired. Then came the removal 
from the old shop to the new, and it was in this work of removal that he displayed 
those abilities, Avhich, given to the conduct of every detail in his business, has won 
for him merited success. About three months were consumed in removing the 
plant from Water to Clark street, but not a day was lost nor was tliere a piece of 
work allowed to remain unfinished for a moment in consequence thereof. The new 
shops having been prepared for their reception, one piece of machinery after an- 
other, as could best be spared, was removed and started running in the new build- 
ing, and thus both places were kept in operation until the last piece of machinery 
had been removed from the old shop. From this date the business has been uni- 
formly successful, and Mr. Crane is to-day the owner of probably the largest job- 
bing foundry and machine shop business in Auburn. The large two story brick 
structure is arranged as a foundry, machine, blacksmith and pattern sliop, the 
foundry being 40x95 feet in dimensions ; the machine shop, 40x80 feet, and the 
blacksmith shop, 40x32 feet, with the second floor (over the machine and black- 
smith shops) occupied as a pattern shop. These departments all contain the most 
complete equipment of tools, and a 20 horse power vertical engine drives the ma- 
chinery. Adjoining and opening into the foundry, which contains two cupolas, 
are the core oven and sand rooms, so arranged that the employes are never exposed 
to inclement weather, and at the southeast corner of the foundry is a large two- 
story brick building, (35x40 feet in dimensions), for the storage of patterns. An 
outlay of more than $30,000 is represented by the patterns stored here, and it 
might freely be stated that it is the most extensive stock of patterns to be found in 
the city. Sheds for the storage of flasks and other buildings of minor importance 
complete the establishment, which in its entire arrangement and conduct is a 
model that might profitably be visited by the craft. About forty workmen are usual- 
ly employed in the establishment and the pay roll averages $1,400 a month. From 
the smallest to the largest eastings, weighing six or seven tons, are produced, and 
the facilities possessed in the iron and bi'ass foundry, with the very excellent ma- 
chine shop, enable Mr. Crane to control a large trade. Amonghis patrons are num- 
bered the E. D. Clapp Manufacturing Co., the Auburn Water Works Co., and the 
large and small concerns in Cayuga and the adjoining counties. It is his pride 
that he can fill evei\v order for any style or vai'iety of work tlaat is presented, and 
it is well known that this is no idle boast. Mr. Crane is ably assisted by tlie sons 
he has educated in the business, one of wliom now fills the position of foreman in 
the machine shop, and either of them are competent to take cliai-ge of the concern 
in their father's absence. He is one of the useful citizens of Auburn, one of that 
body to whom is owing the prosperity of the city and one who would i-eally be 
missed were he lost to this community. As an excellent type of the self-nuido 
men of our country, the success attained by Mr. Crane should fill with hope the 
breast of every poor and sti'uggling young man. 

SUAPLEY & PETERS. 

A short distance east of Mechanic street, and standing on the bank of the small 
stream known as the Owasco outlet, which supplies the power for that well known 
industry, the "City Mills," is a group of stone and brick and frame buildings erect- 
ed at an early period in the history of this city. Were the record eoinplote, it 
would be interesting to trace from their start the liistory of the various enterprises 
for which these buildings have been occupied, but tiiis will not be possible at this 



FACILITIES AXD RESOURCES. 97 

t ime, the purpose of this sketch being merely to give a short account of the formation 
and growth of the business enterprise which at present is conducted in the central one 
of these structures and sevei'al of the smaller adjacent buildings. 

In 1805 there carae to Auburn Charles 11. Shapley, a disabled Union soldier, 
who fell fighting bravely in the battle of Winchester, and was left to die upon the 
fiold. In spite of his severe injury which left him a sufferer for many months, he 
set about fitting himself for some useful and remunerative employment. After 
four years' faithful service in the employment of the Merrill Bros., and B. B. Snow, 
he had acquired sufficient skill and experience to warrant engaging in business on 
his own account. Accordingly, in 1869 he leased a small shop at 25 Water street. 
where he carried on pattern making, scroll sawing and jobbing work, sometimes 
employing one or two assistants. The venture proved successful, and in 1872, after 
having been for a short time in Market st., Mr. Shapley leased and took possession 
of the large factory building south of the City Mills, to which reference has al- 
ready been made. Here the manufacture of the "Little Giant" water wheel was 
begun and the business of pattern making, scroll sawing, jobbing and general ma- 
whine work, was continued. For a short time George H. Jones was associated with 
Mr, Shapley. After the retirement of Mr. Jones, the business was carried on by Mr. 
Shapley individually, until February, 1883, when Fisher Eecles entered into part- 
nership with the firm. A few months later, the firm became Shapley & Peters. The 
manufacture of water wheels was, after a time, abandoned and the character of the 
business was otherwise changed. The manufacture of brass and iron and hollow 
ware was taken up, and has since become the leading feature, an extensive business 
being now carried on in the making and sale of that line of wares. This firm has 
gained considerable reputation as manufacturers of steam heaters, a large number 
of the Florida heaters having been made for the Geneva Steam Heating Company. 
Recently the firm has entered upon the manufacture of the " Auburn" heater, the 
invention of Mr. Frank Pulsifer, a resident of Auburn. This apparatus is meeting 
with great favor and is apparently destined to reach a wide sale, and bring both 
profit and reputation to its inventor and makers. In the employ of Messrs. Shap- 
ley & Peters are about 40 experienced machinists and founders. The works are 
supplied with a full equipment of first class machinery, and the thorough excel- 
lence of all work produced therein, added to the undoubted reliability of the pro- 
prietors, cannot but cause the continued growth and prosperity of the business. 
The admirable business success achieved by Mr. Shapley, by dint of courage, en- 
ergy, and industry, in the face of the heaviest odds, is most richly deserved, and 
his example should inspire to greater effort struggling young men who read these 
lines. 

ISAAC W. QUICK. 

The name which heads this sketch is that of one who for more than a half a cen- 
tury has been familiar with the growth and closely identified with the business and 
manufacturing interests of this city. Isaac W. Quick, beginning in 1844 was until 
1854 associated with George S. Hall in the grocery trade. In November of 1849, 
Quick & Hall purchased of Hussey & Eldred, manufacturers of the Hussey reaper 
and mower, a half interest in their business. This machine was the invention of 
Ovid Hussey, of Baltimore, Md., by whom, it was patented in 1837. This was the 
same year that Cyrus H. McCormick patented his Virginia reaper. This machine 
failed on account of a defect in the working of its knives, but the Hussey machine 
soon gained large popularity and still has a host of friends, after nearly half a cen- 
tury of competition with rivals whose name is legion. Ovid Hussey continued the 



98 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

making of his combined reapers and mowers in Baltimore until his death at an 
early period of the late war. About 1840 Thomas R. Hussey began the manufac- 
ture of reapers and mowers according to the patents of his brother, in the old oil mill 
then occupying the present sight of the works of D. M. Osborne & Co. Later, he 
formed a copartnership with Charles Eldred and the business was removed to a 
building on the site of the Osborne House. Thence the business was removed to its 
former location, and after the burning of the old oil mill in 1864, possession was 
taken of the building just south of the City Mills on Mechanic street, which had 
formerly been used as a distillery. 

As has been stated, in 1849 Quick & Hall bought a half share in the business of 
Hussey & Eldred. In 185!) the interest of Mr. Eldred'was sold to his partners, and 
at the death of Mr. Hall in 1854, Mr. Quick purchased his interest, and also con- 
tinued the sale of groceries until 1866, after which time he gave his entire atten- 
tion to his manufacturing enterpi'ise. In 1868 he bought out Mr. Hussey and has 
since continued the business alone. The works occupied by Mr. Quick consist of 
a large two-story frame building, rear addition, besides a store house and foundry. 
It is some time, however, since he manufactured the castings. These are all made 
elsewhere, and the machines are "set up " and put into working order by him. The 
demand for the Hussey machines reaches about 100 a year. The industry which 
Mr. Quick has conducted very successfully for many years, is still on a sound and 
paying footing, and has been the source of well deserved pecuniary success to him. 
Mr. Quick was one of the pioneers of the movement which has brought this city 
from the ranks of the small and obscure villages of the State into the present proud 
position it occupies as one of the leading manufacturing communities of the land. 
If the enterprising, libei'al spirit of citizens like Isaac W. Quick and many of his 
compeers, be emulated by the rising generation, the future larger growth and in- 
creased prosperity of Auburn will not fail of realization. 

AUBURN AGRICULTURAL WORKS. 

The business of the Auburn Agricultural Works was established in 1851 by Mil- 
ton Alden, the father of J. M. Alden, who was for a time associated with his father 
in the management of the enterprise, and since the death of the founder, has con- 
ducted it individually. It is doubtful if any other single firm or corporation in the 
land has brought out such an array of improved labor saving agricultural imple- 
ments as this concern. A large number of very useful implements have been de- 
vised tlirough the inventive capacity of the Aldens, father and son, and several of 
these are generally acknowledged as the vei-y best articles now manufactured for 
the special ])urposes to which they are designed. Among these implements is the 
Alden Thill Horse Hoe and Cultivator. This implement has been awarded gold 
medals at National trials and has received the first premiums at numerous State 
and County Fairs, Among the other leading specialties are the Alden ditcher, Al- 
den corn marker, and Alden plows of various kinds. The retail store and oflRce 
are located at 61 State street. A foundry and machine shop located on Delavan 
street is conducted by J. M. Alden & Company, this feature of the business having 
been recently entered upon. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 99 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



WILLIAM SUTCLIPFE, THE BREWER AND MALTSTER— THE AUBURN 
MILLS — J. A. COOK, OIL MANUFACTURER AND DEALER — M.J. 
SCHICHT, BOX MAKER. 



TWENTY-FOUR years ago a middle-aged Englishman and his family left the 
shores of their native land for America, the country which promised them 
such golden opportunities for building themselves a home that they will- 
ingly bid adieu to friends and localities made dear by association, and sailed for a 
land to them unknown. Reaching in due time our hospitable shores, they made 
their way to the central part of the great Empire State, and settling at Oriskany, 
in Oneida Ceunty, engaged in a small way in the brewing of beer. A couple years 
passed by, but brought faint signs of a realization of those hopes which had caused 
them to leave their kindred in the old country, and they then removed to the 
young city of Auburn and started anew. Possessing, in an eminent degree, that in- 
domitable pluck characterizing the Englishman, father and sons labored earnestly, 
and their efforts were finally rewarded with success. Gradually their business . 
grew from a ridiculously small beginning to large proportions, their fondest hopes 
were realized, and they could look back with pleasure to the day on which they de- 
cided to embark on their perilous journey to the land of the free. But just as 
they were beginning to enjoy the fruits of their toil, the father and one of the sons 
were called to their final home, and to the remaining son was left the duty of con- 
tinuing the work they had all so hopefully begun. Well has he fulfilled his trust, 
and to-day the name of that English family which came here unknown nearly a 
quarter of a century since, is known and respected throughout a large section, and 
their i-epresentative is possessed of ample wealth. It was in 1858 that Henry C. 
Sutcliffe and his family arrived in New York, and after two years unfruitful toil 
in Oneida County, he removed to Auburn. The small frame building now occupied 
as an office by William Sutcliffe was secured by the family for their home, and vm- 
der a shed adjacent to it was made their first brewing of beer. One-half of a bar- 
rel was the capacity of these brewers, but they were honest and industrious, and in 
two or three years had secured a business requiring the brewing of a barrel daily. 
Then the increase became more rapid, and soon Sutcliffe & vSons ranked among the 
first brewers in the city. New buildings were erected and with greater capacity 
they began to move toward the position of leaders in their industry here. In Jan- 
uary, 1876, Henry C. Sutcliffe died, and in October of the same year he was fol- 
lowed by his son John. Then the management of the entire business devolved 
upon William. Almost reared in the business, William Sutcliffe thoroughly un- 
derstood every detail, and besides possessed the business ability and tact which is 
so requisite to success in building up a large business or fortune. Consequently 
under his control the business was not suffered to relapse, but, on the contrary, in- 
creased still more rapidly ; so much so, indeed, that in a period of eight years it 



100 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

has been enlarged ten fold, and is constantly increasing. From the smallest brew- 
ery in the city, it has become the very largest, producing more beer annually, 
probably, than all the other breweries combined, and being the finest appointed es- 
tablishment in this section of the State. More than $125,000 have been expended 
on the improvement of this property, an ice house erected a couple years since 
alone costing $20,000, and William Sutcliffe can with justifiable pride contemplate 
the work began in conjunction with his father and brother and so creditably 
continued by himself. On the three-quartei-s of an acre of land at Nos. 117 to 121 
Clark street are erected a three-story brick brewery, 70x40 feet in dimensions ; 
a malt house, also three-story brick, 90x60 feet ; a dry kiln building, 25x25 feet, 
with a tower 140 feet high, built during 1883 at a cost of over $5,000 nndcr Wolfe's 
patent, by which it is claimed malt is dried six times quicker than in the old fash- 
ioned kiln ; a two-story brick ice house, 60x60 feet ; another brick ice house (Stall's 
patent), 70x30 feet, and three stories in height ; a large brick stable, wash house, 
cooper shop and other necessary buildings, all supplied with the most improved 
appliances for the profitable conduct of this industry. From a driven well, 200 
feet in depth, a two-inch stream of water is constantly flowing ; the ice houses 
have a storage capacity of 2,000 tons; the cellars have a capacity for storing 5,000 
barrels of beer. Twelve men are constantly employed, and 12,000 barrels of beer 
are brewed annually; the brewery has a capacity for producing 20,000 barrels per 
year, however. Situated alongside the Southern Central and New York Central 
railroads, the shipping facilities are as complete as could be desired, and 6,000 
barrels of beer are annually shipped to the villages and cities adjacent, the balance 
of the product, about 6,000 barrels, being sold in Auburn. William Sutcliffe to- 
day is one of the representative business men of this city, possessing ample moans 
and the ability to enjoy the success he has won. Truly, our land offers golden op- 
portunities to those with the ability to grasp them, and the man who is frugal and 
industrious may with reason hope to accomplish the greatest results and build for 
himself a fortune with no other capital than simply his hands. 

THE AUBURN MILLS. 

Skillful inventions have changed the manufacture of nearly every article enter- 
ing into the comfort, convenience and necessities of the people. Perhaps in no 
other branch has it woi'ked a greater transformation during the last few yeai"s than 
in the manufacture of flour. It is but a few yeai's since the introduction of the 
patent roller process, yet so high is the estimation in which the flour produced by 
this method is held, that its adoption throughout the entire country is merely a 
matter of time. While many of the leading millers in the State had already i-efit- 
ted their mills according to the new idea. Auburn millei-s were slow to adopt it. 
and it remained for the firm of Manro & Neyhart to introduce the system in this 
city. Being thoroughly convinced of the growing demand for flour manufactured 
by this process, the gentlemen composing this firm formed a co])artnorship in the 
latter part of 1882 and purchased the property at Nos. 25 and 27 Water street, 
which they immediately remodeled and fitted up with a complete roller-process 
equipment, built on what is known as the E. P. Allis system. On the 26th day of 
February, 1883, the mills were put in operation and they began to manufacture 
the new process flour. That they had not misinterpreted the signs of the times 
was manifest, the people showing their anxiety for the product of these mills by 
making arrangements for the flour before the mills were put in operation, and also 
from the fact that the same process has since bcjn adopted in two of tha three old 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 101 

mills in this city. From the start, they have been successful and are now looming 
into prominence as manufacturers of fine grade of flour that are obtaining popu- 
larity with consumers. Their custom trade is also large, at times two men being 
kept busy during the entire day in making exchanges with this trade. The mill 
property consists of the main building, 40x80 feet in dimensions, with three stories 
and basement ; tlie storehouse, forming the west wing, 40x80 feet, one story, and 
the boiler and engine house, forming the east wing, 32x40 feet in dimensions and 
one story high. All of the buildings are substantial brick structures, and a 75 
horse power engine drives the machinery. The plant is the most complete of any 
mill in this section of the country and consists of 17 pair of rolls, eleven bolting 
reels, two centrifugal reels, seven scalping reels, four G. I. Smith purifiers, one 
Richmond bran duster, one Richmond combined smutter, one separator, and five 
Milwaukee dnst collectors, making one of the most economical and highly improved 
systems known. The capacity of the mill is 51,000 barrels of flour, 3,500 tons of 
feed (ofl:al from the manufacture of flour) and 8,000 tons of corn and oats feed per 
year. Employment is given to fifteen men. The product of the mill is to a large 
extent disclosed of in the city, the balance being sold in the surrounding part of the 
State and the northern part of Pennsylvania. Buying in large quantities direct 
from the west, having the best equipped mill in this section of the country, their 
present success is but the forerunner of the still greater success to come. The per- 
sons composing the firm are David Manro, JohnM. Manro and S. A. Neyliart. The 
first two are gentlemen of long business experience, and Mr. Neyhart is a practical 
miller, with a thorough understanding of all the different branches of the business. 
Taking the high estimation in which their mill is held by its patrons into con- 
sideration, it should be known as "The Pride of Auburn." 

J. A. CUOK. 

When, in 1869, Mr. J. A. Cook, a practical oil man of large experience in the oil 
fields of New York and Pennsylvania, came from Elmira, (where he had for some 
time been engaged in the same trade) and assumed control of the oil business in 
Auburn, which had been somewhat unsuccessfully conducted by the Bui-gess Broth- 
ers and other firms, he found the . business in its infancy. But bringing to it a 
ripe experience, backed by energy and correct business principles, he soon brought 
order out of chaos and started the trade in a healthier channel. Adding new lines 
as he saw the opportunity, the business advanced very rapidly, and in consequence 
he was from time to time compelled to make additions to his buildings and enlarge 
the capacity for storing oils. To-day more than an acre of land is covered with 
tanks and buildings, and he possesses the most desirable facilities for storing and 
handling oils. Located at the corner of Clark and Manro streets, alongside the 
New York Central and the Southern Central railroads, the oil is pumped from the 
cax"s directly into the storage tanks, and thence passing from tank to tank is manu- 
factured into the different varieties of oil sold. An engine of fifteen horse power 
is employed and the facilities of tlie works commend themselves to the observer. 
There is tankage room for 100,000 gallons of oil, and sheds capable of stoiing 
2,500 barrels. Mr. Cook handles all the illuminating and lubricating oils known 
to the trade, and places about 10,000 barrels of oil on the retail market annually. 
The large line of lubricating oils bearing his name, which are maile under his per- 
sonal supervision and introduced to the trade by him, have gained an enviable 
X'eputation and largely increased iiis patronage. Mr. Cook's success has not been 
confined to his business alone, but his upright character and gentlemanly qualities 



102 AUBURN, N. V., ITS 

have gained for him the high esteem of his neighbors and fellow citizens, which has 
found expression in his election to the position of one of the School (Soramissioners 
for the city. In this, as in his business, he has acted as a liberal and advanced 
thinker, and by the application of business principles to every transaction, he has 
proven an acceptable and efficient officer. He is President of the Auburn Steam 
Heating Co., and largely interested in the new salt fields of Warsaw, N. Y., be- 
ing one of the first pioneers in that branch, and he is the inventor of patents 
whereby they are now manufacturing the finest grades of salt manufactured in the 
world. 

WHITE & ROWE. 

In 1855, a carriage making and jobbing shop was opened in a building which 
stood on the site of the Gaylord House on the east side of State street, by the firm 
of R. and W. H. White. In 1858, this firm was dissolved and the business was 
continued by Robert White, by whom it was in a short time removed to a building 
on Seminary Avenue, near Genesee street. Five years later, the business was again 
removed, this time to a shop which stood on the site of the Gaylord factory building 
on the south side of Water street. Some five years later, at the time of the build- 
ino" of the Gaylord factory, Mr. White took possession of a shop further east on 
Water street, and thence he took his flight to quarters in Dill street. While located 
in Dill street, in 1878, Reuben G. Rowe entered into partnership with Mr. White, and 
White & Rowe shortly after rented and took possession of the commodious quarters 
at 19 Water street, where they now carry on a considerable business in jobbing and 
repairino- wagons, sleighs, etc. They also build some wagons and cutters. 
They occupy the main floor of the building, a room 35x50 feet, and have the skill 
and experience, as ^'ell as a complete equipment in the line of tools and apparatus 
for executing properly and promptly all work entrusted to them. 

M. J. SCOICHT. 

The success of the fast increasing manufactories of the city has the appearance 
of beinf phenomenal, but when followed up and traced out is.found to be solid and 
substantial the natural result of the law of supply and demand. The establish- 
ment of the older industries has made a demand for articles entering into their 
manufacture or used in shipping. Enterprising business men seeing this, have 
established manufactories to supply this demand, believing that the articles could 
be manufactured and furnished as cheaply here as from distant points, thus secur- 
ing the profits to people of the city. In 1868 R. Schicht & Co., began the manu- 
facture of paper boxes, cigar boxes, etc., to supply the demand in Auburn, and 
were successful in building up a fine business. In 1874 Mrs. M. J. Schicht suc- 
ceeded R. Schicht & Co. In 1878 the linuted quarters occupied on Genesee street 
were vacated, and the business removed to the present place, No. 14 and 10 Hoffman 
street, where buildings were erected for the accommodation of the increasing trade. 
Finding a demand for job printing among tlic patrons of the factory, a job press 
was added, on which all styles of job printing are done for the trade, and presses 
and other necessary adjuncts of a printing oflicc were added and a weekly paper 
(German) published, entitled "Weekly Review." The buildings occupied are 
200x24fcet in diinensions and two stories high. Special machinery of the latest 
invention for the nuxnufacture of the boxes is in use. A ten horse power engine 
furnishes the power for the manufacture of the paper boxes and the sawing and 
planing of the wood used in making cigar boxes. Tlie capacity of the factory is 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 103 

1,000,000 boxes per year, the majority of which are disposed of in the city, the 
balance in the surrounding country. Employment is given to 30 people, mostly 
girls. Giving the business the benefit of the labor saving machinery and attend- 
ing to all the details personally, the establishment is in a highly prosperous condi- 
tion and is an honor to the proprietor. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



PEAT & KLINKERT, FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS — THE STONE 
MILL — JOHN M. HURD— WILLS, HORNB & CO. — CHARLES J. 
SCIIWEINFURTH — A. P. MACDONOUGH. 



THE name of Robert Peat is one which has been closely connected with the 
business growth of Auburn from an early date. In 1819, there settled 
in this place a young Englishman, who, like his father before him, and 
his son who has succeeded him, bore the name of Robert Peat. The first of the 
three who in direct line have had this name, was a sea-faring man, and a native 
of Hull, who died while on a voyage at Lisbon, Portugal. The father of the well- 
known successful merchant and manufacturer of to-day, was by trade a cabinet 
maker, and as has been stated, settled in Auburn in 1819. His shop, a small one, 
stood on the west side of what was then "Mill Lane," later known as Centre 
street, and since 1836 designated as Market street. An excellent workman and an 
industrious man was this young artisan, and as years passed by, his fortunes im- 
proved and his business was largely increased. His son, born in this city, was 
early instructed in the use of tools and became also a skillful cabinet-maker. 
With the increase in their business, larger and better buildings were erected, 
and the furniture business now conducted solely by Robert Peat, is the 
most extensive of its kind in this city and vicinity. The establishment in- 
cludes a fine four-story brick block, with a frontage of 112 feet and depth 
of 40 feet, erected on the site of the old shop, and a large frame build- 
ing adjoining, in which the upholstering and finishing departments are 
located. In addition, a large brick and frame structure fronting on Frank- 
lin street and extending back to Market street, is made use of. Here the 
woodwork is manufactured and a large trade in general scroll-sawing, planing, 
etc., is carried on. This portion of the business is conducted by the firm of Peat 
& Klinkert. William Klinkert, who superintends the factory, is a skillful and ex- 
perienced man in his line. In this department 30 hands are employed. The ex- 
tensive furniture ware rooms of Robert Peat contain a very full line of furniture 
and upholstered goods in all grades, from the most inexpensive to the richest arti- 
cles known to the trade. In this part of the enterprise from twelve to fifteen per- 
sons are employed. The business is in all ways admirably conducted and its 
growth from such a humble start to its present fine proportions speaks liighly of 



104 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

the mercantile capacity of its founder and his worthy successor, whose name is 
a familiar one to every household in Cayuga County. 

THE S10NE MILL. 

Of historical interest, the old stone mill at the junction of Market and East 
Genesee streets, is worthy of more than passing mention in this volume. This 
mill was built during the years 1825-26, by John II. Hardenburgh, son of Col. 
John L. Plardenburgh, the first settler in Auburn. It occupies the site of the old 
log mill built by the latter soon after his settlement here, and the plank mill, with 
which that was soon after replaced. The plank mill was 21 feet square, and is 
variously stated to have contained one and two run of stone. Its attendant was 
accustomed, it is said, to gauge his grists and leave the mill to do its own grind- 
ing, allowing it to run in this manner night and day. The second and third mills 
on this site were each built to meet the increased demands which were in excess of 
the capacities of their predecessors. The mill is now owned by Mr. Orlando 
Lewis, who in company with E. C. Hall bought the property of William Hills, on 
the first day o_f May, 1865, for $32,500. In 1870, Mr. Lewis bought his partner's 
interest and has since been alone in its management. He has three times rebuilt 
the intei'ior, the last time in 1883, when $7,000 were expended in fitting it with 
the patent roller process. The building is a four story and basement stone 
structure, 80x50 feet in dimensions. In the basement are situated three water 
wheels giving 100 horse power. The first floor above contains six sets of stone, 
four of which are used for flour and two for feed, and four pair of rolls for the 
manufacture of flour by the patent process. On the second floor is one six-bolt 
chest, one two-bolt chest, a separator and bins for storing grain. The third floor 
contains three cleaning machines, one purifier, two reel chests and a bran duster, and 
the fourth floor, two purifiers, three dust-catchers, two centrifugal reels, two separ- 
ating reels and the di-iving machinery. Throughout, the mill is perfect in all its 
appointments. The capacity is now 125 barrels of flour and 20 tons of chop per 
day. Employment is given to six men and at all times the mill presents a busy 
scene. The product is almost entirely consumed in this city, the surplus, when 
there is any, being shipped east. I\Ir. Lewis came to Auburn from Spencer, 
Tioga County, in 1857, and was engaged in the lumber business previous to pur- 
chasing the mill property. He is, at the present time, President of the Auburn 
Manufacturing Company, and otherwise interested in the city's prosperity. He 
has always been a prompt and energetic business man, and his successful business 
career is the result of sound principles observed by him both in the conduct of his 
business and daily life. 

JOHN M. HURD, Agent. 

An important and growing industry, located at No.'s 11, 13 and 15 Dill street, is 
conducted at present in the name of John M. Hurd, President of the Auburn 
Paper Bag Company. This enterprise, which includes the manufacture of snow 
shovels, hand-sleds and children's express wagons, had its beginning at tho ])rison, 
where it was established on a small scale by Thomas Peacock in 1877. lu 1879, 
the business was purchased by Eleazer Hunter and John M. Hurd, it having been 
previously removed to its present location in Dill street by Mr. Peacock. The 
building now occupied is a throe-story brick structure, the general dimensions of 
which are 60xG0. In this location the original volume of business has been 
largely increased. An average of from 30 to 50 persons find employment, 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 105 

unci the monthly pay-roll reaches $1,400. Last season about 16,000 hand-sleds 
were produced and the number will be fully as large the present year. 
Prom 10,000 to 13,000 snow-shovels are made annually. Two years ago, the 
making of children's express wagons was entered upon and has become 
thus quickly a leading feature. Last year, from 12,000 to 15,000 were pro- 
duced, and this year the number will reach 20,000. All of the work is done on the 
premises. On the main floor the lumber is planed and sawed; on the second floor 
the pieces are cut out by means of a large number of small saws and other machin- 
ery, and on the upper floor, the putting together, painting and finishing of the 
wares takes place. The sale of these articles reaches through a wide extent of 
territory and the beauty and excellence of the goods produced yearly add to their 
popularity and cause an increased sale. The articles manufactured are of a staple 
character. Snow shovels will be needed as long as snow continues to fall in win- 
ter, and sleds and wagons will always continue to be in great demand as long as 
boys and girls retain their present characteristics. Therefore with an established 
reputation and growing trade, there can be no cause to doubt that the fortunes of 
this interesting enterprise will continue to advanoe, despite the trials and discour- 
agements attending an earlier period of its history. Although conducted in the 
name of J. M. Hurd, the business is actively managed by Mr. Hunter, who per- 
sonally superintends the works and has charge of the office. Among the more re- 
cently founded manufacturing enterprises of Auburn, there is none more fully de- 
serving of large success than that just briefly described, both on account of the 
useful nature of the wares produced, and the energy and worth of the conductors 
of the business. 




WILLS, HORNE & CO. 

The copartnership existing between George P. Wills, John Home and A. G. 
Treat, under the style of Wills, Home & Co., was formed in 1880, for the 
purpose of engaging in the manufacture of carriages, sleighs, etc. The business 
of this concern, which has prospered well from the beginning, is conducted in 
twTo parts. At 17 and 19 Dill street is located their large jobbing and repair shop, 
a building 45x60 feet, three stories high, being made use of. The factory is lo- 
cated at 81 Clark street. This building, which is in the form of an "L, " affords 



106 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

7,000 square feet of floor space. In the several departments of the business twenty 
men find employment, the monthly pay-roll amounting to $600. The value of 
the goods produced annually is about $35,000. Each year this firm makes 100 
fine carriages, and about 25 sleighs. Their Brewster buggy is justly con- 
sidered one of the most thoroughly made and reliable vehicles offered for 
sale in this market. The business carried on in the jobbing and repair shop 
is large and growing. The best workmen only are employed, and thorough, 
reliable work is furnished in all cases. The senior member of this firm, 
George F. Wills, is an old established carriage painter, in which line of 
work he has a reputation second to none engaged in that branch of trade. 
Among the many newly established business enterprises of this bustling, 
active city, that to which this brief sketch is devoted already occupies an honora- 
ble position, and it will doubtless continue, through the energy and industry of its 
proprietors and the excellence of the work and wares produced, to grow in impor- 
tance from year to year. 

CHARLES J. SCHWEINFURTH. 

In 1853 there came to Auburn a German mechanic who had nothing to recom- 
mend him but his ability as a workman in wood. Securing a position as pattei'n- 
maker to contractors in the prison, he soon made for himself a reputation as a 
skillful carver and designer as well as pattern maker. His services being sought 
by builders and manufacturers, in 1860 he decided to open a shop for himself. 
Purchasing part of the building situated south of the city mills, on the bank of the 
Owasco, he began to do pattern work, carving and designing for the trade. In a 
manufacturing center as large as Auburn, there is at all times demand for intri- 
cate and expensive patterns and Mr. Sehweinfurth's recognized skill secured him this 
work. In course of time, the demands on his services were so great that he was 
compelled to secure competent workmen to aid him in filling his orders. During 
his busy season he employs five men and turns out some fine work for the trade. 
At the present time, he is engaged in carving wood ornaments for a building 
front in Detroit, Michigan, in imitation of the plaster work on the fronts of 
buildings in Holland, Europe, during the 17th century. The building occupied 
by Mr. Schweinf urth as a shop, is a two-story frame building, 32x40 feet in dimen- 
sions, supplied with power by a water wheel of 30-horse power, Mr. Schweinfurth 
is recognized as a most worthy citizen and one who is interested in the city's wel- 
fare. His sons, inheriting their father's skill, have been educated as architects, 
and now occupy positions of honor in their profession in the city of Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

A. P. McDONOUGII. 

In the year 1878 Messrs. A. P. Mc Donough and E. Applebee opened a marble 
and granite business at No. 41 Water street. They continued business here for a 
year, when the firm dissolved partnership and the business was continued by Mr. 
A. P. Mc Donough, who being a practical workman, and an honest and energetic 
business man, the establishment gained an enviable reputation for the artistic de- 
sign and the promptness and honesty with which its contracts were filled. In 1882 
finding the growing trade and demands too much for the place occupied by him, 
Mr. Mc Donough removed his shop to No. 34 Clark street. His ware-rooms con- 
tain some beautiful samples of his skill in marble, and the cemeteries of the 
city are dotted with work from his establishment, among which might be 



FACILrTlES AND RESOURCES. 107 

mentioned more especially the beautiful pieces of work for Mrs. Pierson, A. 
Traub and a tomb for George Lounsbury, in granite, of which he makes a 
specialty. During the busy season he employs six to eight men, and the peo- 
ple of Cayuga County are fast learning to appreciate the fact that Auburn 
can furnish as fine samples of memorial art as any of the larger cities. 
Mr. Mc Donough is not an old man, but his principles of business, which are to 
give the full value for the money and allow no inferior work to be turned out 
from his establishment, have caused the prediction to be made that he will not 
only continue at the head of his profession but that his business will be largely 
increased in the future. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



Manufacturing Interests. 



(iURDON S. PANNINa, BREWER AND MALTSTER — D. P. G, & W. 0. 
EVERTS & CO.— J. A. STEVENS — AUGUSTUS ROTHERY— JOHN EL- 
LIOTT—JAMES HOLMES— WILLIAM KOENIG. 



AS a brewer and maltster, Gurdon S. Fanning occupies a front rank in the 
business in his line in this city. The foundation of this to-day highly 
successful business was laid in the year 1864, when Norman H. Kennedy 
and Gurdon S. Panning, under the name of Kennedy & Fanning, began the brew- 
ing of beer and manufacturing of malt at Nos. G, 8 and 10 Garden street. Hav- 
ing a practical knowledge of the business, and being very energetic, they pushed 
the trade forward and were very successful. In 1868, Mr. Kennedy desiring to re- 
tire, Mr. Panning purchased his interest, and has since that time been conducting 
it alone. Having by the care exercised in the manufacture of the beer and malt 
sent out by them gained a high reputation, Mr. Panning determined that this repu- 
tation should not suffer from any neglect on his part. The business, accordingly, 
steadily increased, making it necessary to enlarge the buildings in use, from year to 
year. At the present time little is left of the old buildings in which the business was 
begun, new buildings having been built over and around them, until the large and 
imposing ones hide the old from view. The buildings now occupied consist of the 
brewery, 190x32 feet in dimensions, three stories high; the malt house, 52x120 
feet, >vith an L addition 30x50 feet, three stories, and the ice house, 30x70 feet in 
dimensions. Large beer and ale vaults, with a capacity of 5,000 barrels storage, 
are constructed in the brewery building. The malt house is supplied with patent 
kilns. A 40-horse power engine furnishes the motive power. Thirteen men are 
given employment and 5,000 barrels of ale and lager and 60,000 bushels of malt 



108 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 




FANNING S BREWERY. 

are produced per year. The greater part of the beer and ale brewed is sold in this 
city. The malt produced is shipped to brewers east and south. Mr. Fanning has 
connected with his brewery a liquor store, doing a large and successful business, 
and the bottling of his beer is also done on the premises. Giving it his personal 
attention and guaranteeing that every product shall be first-class, his business can- 
not but be as successful in the future as it has been in the past. Mr. Panning is 
an active business man and is always to be found in his office, giving everything 
connected with his business his personal attention. 

D. P. G. & W. O. EVERTS & CO. 



Occupying a leading position among establishments of its class, the business of 
D. P. G, & W. O. Everts & Co. is entitled to a prominent jTosition by reason of the 
extent of the business transacted. Establishing themselves, in 1809, in the build- 
ing previously occupied by the Auburn Tool Co., they began the manufacture of 
sash, doors, and blinds. The proporty on Mechanic street, near the big dam, was 
afterward purchased, and in 1880 the machinery and stock were removed to their 
new mills, where great success has been achieved. That this success is largely due 
to the fine facilities possessed by the firm for conducting their business it is i)rob- 
ably unnecessary to state, bnt the business reputation of the firm would undoubt- 
wlly secure for them a large trade, even did tliey not possess such an excellent es- 
tablishment. The firm now occupy tlircc acres of gi'ound, on which are erected 
one two story building, 40x80 feet in dimensions; a two-story Iwiler room and 
wheel house, 24xr)0 feet ; a dry house, 30x20 feet, and other smaller buildings for 
storage &c. Tlie first floor of the main building is occupied by the door doj)art- 
ment, and contains the saws and planei's employed for the purpose. Over 1,000,- 
000 feet of lumber was cut here last year. The machineiy for manufacturing sash 
and blinds, all of the most improved labor saving character, is found on the sec- 
ond floor. The dry house contains a steam dning apparatus which insures the 
best seasoning and preparation of the wood for durable and satisfactory woik. A 
water wheel of 40-horse power drives the machinery, while a 20-horse j)ower engine 
is a valual)le auxiliary during seasons of low water and otlicr enicrgeiicics. Forty 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 109 

men are given employment. The greater part of the lumber consumed is bought 
direct from first hands in Michigan. The product of the factory finds ready sale in 
this city. The firm are also contractors and builders, and by pursuing the same 
liberal and honest policy that made their success in the sash, door and blind busi- 
ness, have built up a reputation as conscientious, capable workmen, giving the 
most labor and best results for the money invested. The firm consist of D. P. G. 
and W. 0. and W. S. Evex'ts. The first two named, who are well known to the peo- 
ple of Auburn as builders, have been engaged in ' the business for years, and were 
also for a number of years connected with contracts in the State prison. All are 
reliable and enterprising business men and active citizens, adding not a little to 
the general prosperity of the city. 

JAMES A. STEVENS. 

In 1866, James A. Stevens opanod a small shop on Seminary Avenue near Gene- 
see street, where he carried on the work of jobbing, repairing and building wagons, 
carriages and sleighs. Careful attention to business, and the production of first 
class work only, brought the just reward of growing patronage and success. On 
January 1st, 1881, Mr. Stevens removed his business to its present location at Nos. 
27 and 29 Water street- The building now occupied by him is a three-story brick, 
44x60 feet in front, and it has a rear addition 1 1-2 stories high, 20x30 feet. Ten 
hands find permanent employment and about 50 fine carriages and buggies and 35 
sleighs are manufactured yearly. The monthly pay-roll reaches $450. Jobbing and 
repairing are carried on largely, this shop being one of the best equipped and most 
capably conducted of its kind in the city. Sound and reliable industi'ies like this, 
though not widely extended in their character and proportions, have an important 
influence upon the general commercial prosperity of the place, and are eminently 
worthy of mention and commendation. 

AUGUSTUS ROTHERY. 

The business established here a few years since by Mr. Augustus Rothery, is not 
a new and untried venture, but the off-shoot of a highly successful business still 
in existence in Newark, N. J., also a branch at Mattawan, N. J. In 1826 the 
father of Mr. Rothery, emigrating from England, settled in Newark, and being a 
file cutter by trade, at once opened a manufactory on a small scale in that city. 
Having a thorough knowledge of the business and giving every branch his person- 
al supervision, the business was very successful. His sons were educated in every 
branch of the trade under his care, making them reliable and skillful workmen. 
In 1877, desiring to carry on the business on his own account, Augustus looked 
about for a suitable location, and on account of the many manufactories in the 
city selected Auburn for his future home. He opened a shop on Owaseo street in 
that year, with only one man to assist him, and nothing to recomend him to the 
trade except his pluck and abilities. But he worked hard and soon gained both 
patronage and reputation for first class work. In 1879 he removed his shop to 
Nc. 20 Hoffman street, and with each succeeding year has had the pleasui'e of see- 
ing his business increase and the reputation of his work spread throughout the 
surrounding country. The buildings now occupied by him consist of a grinding 
shop, 40x12 feet ; forge shop, 12x14 feet in dimensions, and the cutting shop, 20x35 
feet. All ai% frame buildings, the two former one story and the latter two 



110 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

stories high. A 20-horse power engine furnishes the motive power for grinding, 
the cutting being all done by hand. Ten men are employed and the product 
amounts to about $7,000 per year. All styles and kinds of files are made, special 
files for any kind of work being made to order. So high is the estimation in which 
the products of these works ai'e held, that the business has inci'eased 900 per cent, 
since its establishment, and is still increasing, all of which may be attributed to 
the knowledge enjoyed by Mr. Rothery of his business, and the strict attention 
paid to the quality of the work turned out. 

JOHN ELLIOTT. 

In the year 1849 the subject of this sketch moved from N. Y. City (where for 
five years he had been working at his trade,) to Auburn. He at once opened a man- 
ufactory of soap and candles, for which (the latter article more especially) there was a 
great demand. Being a practical workman and gifted with good business qualifi- 
cations, and honest withal, he soon passed his competitors and took the front 
rank in his business. The discovery of petroleum woi-ked a wondrous change, 
however, in the candle business, and as remarked by Mr. Elliott, where he once 
produced a hundred thousand lbs. of candles per year, he only produces at the 
present time about 10,000 lbs. While many CDntinued manufacturing and plac- 
ing on the market the large number of candles which had previously been made, 
and were ruined on account of the slow sale and poor demand, Mr. Elliott 
gradually guided his business more e5p3cially into the soap trade, and became a 
wholesale buyer and shipper of tallow to New York City. At the present time Mr. 
Elliott ships 5,000 lbs of tallow per week to the city. His business is located at 
No. 38 Garden street, where, in addition to his chandlery business, he purchases 
hide, pelts and pork. He employs four men, and his pay roll amounts to about 
twenty-five hundred dollars per year. In the soap business he makes a specialty 
of extra family soap, which is highly prized for its purity. Mr. Elliott is a genial 
old gentleman and an honor to the business. His goods are shipped throughout 
the State of New York. 

JAMES HOLMES. 

Among the applicants for the patronage of the dealers in those beverages which, 
entering so largely into the comfort of tKe people, have become almost a necessity 
to a large part of them, is Mr. James Holmes, who, establishing himself at 
No. 39 Garden street (in the rear of N. Y. C. R. R. depot) began bottling lager 
beer in 1880. Having a large acquaintance among the dealers, and being known 
as a careful and energetic business man, trial orders came to him, by the prompt 
filling of which, with the careful attention paid to the character of the article 
handled by him. soon caused those giving trial orders to become steady customers. 
During the year 1880 his business increased largely, and finding that there was a 
great demand for temperance drinks, he pui'chased one of the best apparatus for 
the manufacture of these articles, and added to his other business that of manu- 
facturing and bottling mineral water, soda water, ginger ale and other drinks of 
like character, in the manufacture and distribution of which he employs five men and 
three wagons. His venture has been very successful and his business is steadily in- 
creasing. Mr. Holmes has the latest and most improved machinery for the prompt 
filling of his orders, and by giving his careful attention to the selection and manu- 
facture of his goods he can guarantee satisfaction. His trade has grown to such an 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. Ill 

extent that at the present time he has not only a large patronage in the city, but a 
growing demand in all the surrounding villages. He has added to his machinery- 
one of Hogh Bro's. patent bottle washers, which cost $^00, and by the aid of which 
that part of the labor is greatly expedited, the machine being capable of washing 
eighty-five dozen bottles per hour, 

WILLIAM KOENIG. 

One of the lat«r established breweries is that of Mr. Wra. Koenig, who, erecting 
the large and convenient buildings now occupied by him at the corner of 
State street and Grant Avenue, in 1868, began to manufacture beer. 
Having a thorough knowledge of beer brewing, and paying strict atten- 
tion to the business, he has established a high reputation for the beer 
from his brewery. Having added the brewing of ale to that of beer during the 
past few months, andhis business having increased, there is no doubt but that that 
trying period which comes to every man's business life is past, and that the future 
is full of promise for him. The buildings occupied consist of the brewery, a fine 
three story brick structure, 30x50 feet in dimensions, and two ice houses, one 
44x32 feet and the othei" 54x40 feet in dimensions, both of which are brick build- 
ings, two stories high. The product is 2,000 barrels of beer and ale per annum, 
giving employment to four men. A boiler of 20-horse "power supplies the 10- 
horse power engine and the pumps with steam. While the business is not the 
largest of its kind in the city, it is still a successful one, which does honor to its pro- 
prietor and helps to swell the volume of business of the city. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



General Business Interests. 



THE AUBURN EYE AND EAR HOSPITAL— THE AUBURN PAPER CO- 
MANNING, HOWLAND &CLARK — IRVEN SHOEMAKER— WALTER 
BRAY — H. D. WILKIN. 



THE AUBURN EYE AND EAR HOSPITAL is located at the corner of 
South and Genesee streets, and is one of Auburn's latest and best acquisi- 
tions. As its name implies, it is principally intenc^ed for patients who are 
affected with any form of eye, ear or throat difficulties. The institution is pre- 
sided over by Dr. George J. West, a. surgeon of character and marked ability. 
His early medical and surgical training was received in the various hospitals in 
New York city. After having received his diploma, he associated himself with 
the eminent surgeon, Dr. George A. Thayer, of Binghamton, N. Y. This copart- 
nership continued for a number of years, during which period Dr. West gained, 
by perseverance and skill, a reputation as a surgeon second to none. For years 
he had been preparing himself for a special line of work ; and finally gave up en- 



112 



AUBURN N. Y., ITS 




AUBURN SAVINGS BANK BUILDING. 



tirely genei-al practice, and repaired to the New York Eye and Ear Hospital. 
Here he received a thoroiigh training, in everything relating to his future work. 
But not content even with these superior advantages, he determined to see 
whether the glowing i-eports concerning the advantages to be had in the hospitals of 
Germany were true. He accordingly visited the Royal Hospitals in Vienna, Aus- 
tria; Berlin, Germany; and London, England. Dr. West says of these institu- 
tions, "the high intellectual standing of the professors or suboi'dinate teachers, 
the carefulness and thoroughness of the system of instruction, combined with all 
possible privileges, make these in^titution-J the best in the world, not alone in the 
theoretical field, but also practically." This thorough training, supplementing 
many superior natural qualifications possessed by Dr. AYest, is the key to his suc- 
cess. The want of such an institution has long been felt by the citizens of Au- 
burn and its immediate vicinity, who hail with joy its coming. Hero the blind 
may receive back the blessings of sight, the deaf be made to hear. The deformi- 
ties of lids are obliterated. Cross eye are straightened. Destroyed eyes are re- 
moved and replaced by artificial glass ones. Even those who need a second pair 
of eyes, in the shape of eye glasses, get their wants hero supplied. Another dis- 
tinct feature of this institution, is the treatment of catarrh. The public gener- 
ally believe, and it is so taught by the medical profession at large, that for catarrh 
there is no cure. Dr. West asesrts that it can be cured. Patients jillow it to run riot 
for years; and only after some of the worst forms of eye or ear diseases are devel- 
oped by it, do tliey seek a physician's aid. Dr. West can be consulted daily, at his 
office in the Auburn Savings Bank building, on the corner of South and Genesee 
streets. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 113* 

THE AUBURN PAPER CO. 

This concern dates its first days back to the years when Auburn was compara- 
tively a small town, being one of the oldest industries of the now metropolitan 
like city. Thomas M. and Geoi'ge C. Skinner and Ebenezer Hoskins erected a 
paper mill here in 1820, but their interests were transferred to the Cayuga County 
bank in 1840. The subsequent lessees of the mill were L. W. Nye and Charles 
Eldred, who were succeeded by David S. West, Henry Ivison and Chauncey 
Markham. In 1840, a stock company was formed. In 1854 there was a reorganf- 
zation of the company with increased capital, and the business greatly enlarged. 
In 1858 this mill was destroyed by fire, shortly after which F. Gr. Weeks of Skan- 
eateles, and Clias. -J. Stupp of Auburn, came into possession of the old landmarks 
and business. The business in a languishing condition was carried on by them until 
1874, when it was purchased by the Botsford Brothers. At that time the house was 
located in small quarters on Green street. These young men at once put life 
into the concern and trade began to increase from the first year, which increase 
has reached such a degx-ee of late years that at the beginning of 1883 they found 
it neecessary to secure larger quarters. They secured the Richardson building No. 
8 South street, which is 100 feet deep with a fine basement, and was specially ar- 
ranged and fitted for their business. In November, 1883, they opened a retail de- 
partment for the sale of fine stationery. Their business includes every class of 
paper and stationery goods, twines, &c., but they make a specialty of manilla pa- 
pers. One feature of their manilla paper trade calls for special notice. At one of 
the mills controlled by the Auburn Paper Co., a specialty is made of No. 3 ma- 
nilla, noted for its extra strength. They also ship largely of straw paper to the 
western jobbers. Another feature of their business which is carried on extensively 
by them, is printed wrapping paper. In 1882 they commenced to manufacture the 
" Superb " butter and fruit tray, from wood pulp board. These trays in many re- 
spects are the finest tray in the market and ai-e meeting with great favor. The 
individual members of the company are John II. and James E. Botsford. 

MANNING, HOWLAND & CLAEK. 

The business conducted by the Messrs. Manning, Howland & Clark, namely, the 
manufacture and sale of pine, hemlock and hardwood lumber, shingles, lath, etc., 
is the largest of its kind in Auburn. The office and yard are situated on Seminary 
avenue near Genesee street, where operations were begun in 1871. In addition to 
the yard here, a saw-mill located at Union, Broome county, where Andrew S. 
Manning, the senior member of the firm resides, has been operated all along. 
From the timber lands owned by the firm in that section of the State, they have 
produced upwards of 3,000,000 feet of lumber yearly, a force of sixty men having 
been employed in the woods and at the mill. Besides the sale of the products of 
their own mill, large quantities of Western lumber are handled, and an extensive 
trade in pickets, mouldings, shingles, posts, etc., is carrir-d on. A specialty is 
made of black walnut lumber, of which a larger quantity is handled annually by 
this firm than other concern in this part of the State. In the yard here seven 
hands are employed. The immediate direction of the business is in the hands of 
Mr. Abel H. Clark, the other partner, Mr. II. N. Howland, being a member of 
the firm of C. W. Tuttle & Co., proprietors of the Auburn Iron Works, to which 
important enterprise Mr. Howland's attention is mainly directed. The stock car- 



114 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

ried by Manning, Howland & Clark is large and complete, the business most capa- 
bly conducted, and the concern in all respects one of the leading, x-eliable enter- 
prises of this city. 




IRVEN SHOEMAKER. 

The agricultaral implement store, of which Mr. Irven Shoemaker is now the sole 
proprietor, was established in the fall of 1882 by the firm of Davis & Shoemaker, 
and by them was successfully carried on until the retirement of Mr. Davis from 
the firm in March of the present year. Mr. Shoemaker, who then succeeded to 
the individual ownership of the enterprise, though a young man, has a considera- 
ble acquaintance with the practical details of the special branch of trade to which 
he has devoted his capital and energies, and will doubtless further develop the ex- 
cellent business which had been built up by himself and Mr. Davis. The business 
occupies the main floor of the large frame and brick building located at No. 12 
Franklin street, and the stock carried embraces a full line of agricultural imple- 
ments, wagons, sleighs and horse furnishing goods of every description. Among the 
specialties handled by this house are the Missouri grain drill and fertilizer, and the 
Champion horse rake, for which implements Mr. Shoemaker is the sole agent in Au- 
burn. Both of these machines have many features which render them superior to 
any others manufactured for similar purposes. In all respects the establishment 
of Mr. Shoemaker is well equipped and a credit to the pushing city in which it is 
locatei 

WALTER BRAY, Jr. 

In 1877, Messrs. Buckley & Co. established the business of manufacturing and 
selling horse clothing, harness and trunks, at No. (3G Genesee street. They con- 
tinued the business for two years, and in 1879 sold it to the present proprietor, Mr. 
Walter Bray, Jr. That Mr. Bray did not come to the trade unknown and unappre- 
ciated, may be judged by the steady increase in the business since he has had con- 
trol of it. Mr. Bray has been known to the people of Auburn and the surrround- 
ing country as being connected with the harness and trunk business for over thirty 
years in the city. Coming to Auburn in 1853, he was employed at his trade by 
Mr. A. V. M. Suydam, (who is still remembered by the older people of tlie city as 
being engaged in business here for many years,) until in 1800, when he began busi- 
ness on his own account. From 18G2 to 1808 he occupied the building owned by 
Lyman Soule, and which has since been destroyed to make room for the handsome 
brick structure, on the north side of Genesee street, which spans the Owasco out- 
let, and is arched over the Osborne Go's branch railroad. In 1868, Mr. Bray dis- 
posed of the business, and until the purchasing of Buckley & Go's store in 1879, 
was connected with Ilayden & Letchworth, wholesale dealers in saddlery hard- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. ll.-) 

ware. That Mr. Bray's return to active business is appreciated, it need only be 
said his trade has increased every year, and to-day he carries one of the largest and 
finest stock of harness, trunks and horse furnishing goods to be found in the city. 
On May first, Mr. Bray removed to the hantlsoins brick store room at No. 6 
Genesee street, the building occupied having been sold to the Y. M. C. A., 
who will demolish it and erect a large and handsome building in its stead for their 
use. A native of England, Mr. Bray emigrated to this country in 1848. He first 
located at Utica, from there he removed to Owasco in 1848, and as has been pre- 
viously noticed, from the latter place to Auburn in 1853. An honest, intelligent 
and energetic citizen, Mr. Bray is an honor to the country of his adoption. 

H. D. WILKTN. 

The historical interest which attaches itself to the old business houses of the city, 
finds a subject in the ladies' furnishing goods store located at 94 Genesee street. 
This biisincss was established in 1859 by Mrs. H. L. Smith and conducted by her 
until 1878, when she was succeeded by Mr. H. D. Wilkin, the present proprietor. 
A full and complete line of ladies' furnishing goods, consisting of ladies' muslin 
and merino underwear, corsets, hosiery, laces, fine embroidery, yarns and zephyrs, 
are constantly to be found on his counters. All varieties of stamping are done to 
order, and a full stock of materials for art embroiderers are always on hand. The 
stock is the largest and finest in the city, devoted to this line of goods exclusively, 
and the large and increasing trade enjoyed by this house since its foundation, is a 
safe criterion by which to judge of its reliability. Four lady clerks are employed 
and the business is conducted on a thoroughly metropolitan style. Mr. Wilkin 
is a native of the flourishing city of Syracuse, where he was engaged in business 
before removing to Auburn. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



General Business Interests. 



THE AUBURN COPYING HOUSE — THE BOSTON STORE — DRIGGS, 
PHILLIPS & CO. — FRED. H. POWELL— HENRY L. ADAMS — J. M. 
ELLIOTT — J. L. BAKER. 



THE AUBURN COPYING HOUSE is one of the oldest and most reliable 
photo-copying establishments in the country. Early in 1872, Mr. William 
H. Ernsberger originated the business, and in a very short time there- 
aftor his brother, Aaron D. Ernsberger, was taken in as a partner, but did not 
remain in the business more than six months, at the expiration of which time he 
turned over his interests to his brother, William 11. , and went west. In October, 
1873, Mr. G. W. Hoffman purchased a one-lialf interest in the house, and things 
went on smoothly until the spring of 1875, at which time Mr. Ploffman purchased 



116 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 








THE AUBURN COPYING HOUSE BUILDING. 



tfic entire business. It will be remembered that about this time the country was 
laboring under a severe financial trouble, which affected all classes of business, and 
as this house was doing a wide-spread trade it did not escape. As a consequence, 
trade fell off, and things certainly looked rather dubious for Mr. Hoffman's busi- 
ness, more especially as his experience had been but a limited one. However, by 
indomitable pluck and energy, he pulled through, and to-day he is doing a very 
large and satisfactory amount of work. He has steadily increased his facilities. 
During the year 1883, his gross receipts amounted to $30,000, while in 1883. 
they run up to $40,000; thus it will be seen that the magnitude of this house is 
one of no small dimensions. He has about 50 agents traveling throughout the 
country, and hero at home gives employment to some 10 or 12 persons, who are 
constantly on the "go" in filling orders. The class of work turned out by this 
house is such as commends itself to the public. Not one piece of work is allowed 
to leave his place of business until it can stand the most thorough examination of 
critics, which accounts in a great measure for the suceoss attained by his agents. 
Mr. Hoffman is a. thorough business man, and has shown that success in any un- 
dertaking depends largely upon the class of work turned out. His house, a view 
of which is i>resented, is located at Nos. 9 and 11 Genesee street, and many people 
can secure jirofitable employment by canvassing for orders for the work done by 
this thorouglily reliable establishment, tlie reputation of which, for the best work 
jiroduced, is alone sufficient to command the orders of people desiring only first 
class work. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 117 

THE BOSTON STORE. 

One of the finest and most complete establishments in the city, is the suit house, 
or as it is better known, "The Boston Store" conducted by M. & J. Madden at No. 
45 Genesee street. In 1868 M. Madden, the senior member of the firm, procured 
the store room just vacated by I. L. Scoville. who. for many years had carried on 
a dry goods store at that number, and introduced the present line of 
trade, which consists of dry goods, carpets, and ladies' furnishing goods 
and suits. Pour floors are occupied by the firm in their large and success- 
ful business. The first floor of No. 45 is occupied in the sale of dry goods and 
ladies' furnishing goods; the second floor as a carpet sales room; the third floor 
of No. 47 for the sale of ladies' underwear, suits and cloaks, and the fourth floor 
in the manufacture of ladies' underwear, suits and cloaks. They are the only 
house in the city where a lady can be supplied with a full and complete outfit, and 
the advantages thus offered are fully appreciated. Being able to economize in 
help in the different departments, they can oflier exceptional inducements to pur- 
chasers of carpets, suits and dry goods. The business is completely systematized 
throughout. Twelve clerks are employed in the diffiei'ent departments, and twen- 
ty-five operators in the manufacturing department. In 1888, a copartnership was 
formed by M. & J. Madden. Active and courteous, their business has rapidly in- 
creased, and is fully deserving of the high estimation in which- it is held. 

DRIGGS, PHILLIPS k CO. 

These gentlemen own and operate two of the largest wholesale and retail lumber 
yards. Their place of business on Wall street near State has been used as a yard of 
its kind since 1869, at which time Mr. Ira Gaston was carrying on a small busi- 
ness. It was in 1875 that John P. Driggs & Co., (the "Co." then as now being 
Mr. A. B. Chamberlain,) bought out Mr. Gaston. In 1876, Mr. Edwin E. 
PhiUips was admitted as a partner, and the firm name changed to what it now is. 
The first year after Mr. Gaston left the yards, business in general was good, and 
the yard did its usual amount of trade that year, too ; yet the sales amounted to 
only about $18,000, while last year the present firm did a business of $70,000. 
This speaks well for the management of the concern, and is positive evidence that 
experienced men are at its head. The Wall street yard is a large one, having a front 
on that street of nearly 300 feet, with a depth of about 150 feet. This space is filled 
as full as possible with all the best grades of Michigan lumber, which lumber stands 
at the head of the trade. Six men and three teams arc constantly at work in and 
about the place, delivering and drawing in. Aside from the firm's large city trade 
in furnishing contractors' and builders' materials, they enjoy a most liberal pat- 
ronage from farmers, who place much confidence in Driggs, Phillips & Co.'s state- 
ments concerning their lumber. Although the firm makes a specialty of the i-etail 
trade, they are situated in such a location with their second yard, on Wall street, 
neai- the Southern Central railroad, as to be able to offer superior inducements to 
purchasers of car lots. This yard, which is a very extensive one, was purchased 
of James M. French, last June. As a whole, the firm of Driggs, Phillips & Co, 
are doing a thriving Ijusiness, and are deserving of the same. 

FRED H. POWELL. 

To secure pure and clean seeds is the first effort, and a very necessary one, ol* 
every farmer and gardener. On that account, a home establishment, conducted 



118 AUBURN, N. V., ITS 

by people of reliability, is sure to receive calls from the careful buyer, and is 
deserving of the liberal patronage of the people. The seed store conducted by 
Mr. F. H. Powell at No. 23 North street, was established by his father, Mr. John 
F. Powell, in 1870, and during the time he continued the business his efforts were 
directed to establishing a reputation for the purity of the seeds sold by him, and 
the selection of such varieties as he thought would prove the most satisfactory to 
his patrons, in which he was highly successful. His son, Fred H. Powell, became a 
partner in 1876, having disposed of the drug store which he had carried on at No. 
12 North street. The father, Mr. J. F. Powell, died in 1880, deeply mourned by 
his family and a large circle of acquaintances, and his son succeeded to a full con- 
trol of the business. He carries a full line of the purest and best selected 
seeds to be found in the city, for both garden and farming purposes. Three men 
are employed in the store, and the seeds are cleaned under the personal super- 
vision of Mr. Powell. A large stock of produce is also handled by Mr. Powell. 
Using good judgment in the selection of the seeds sold, of which a large quantity 
are grown for Mr. Powell's especial trade, the success of the business cannot but 
come up to the expectation and hope of the proprietor. 

HENRY L. ADAMS. 

The drug store conducted by Mr. Adams was started at No. 69 State street in 
January, 1882. Larger quarters being required for the business, which increased 
rapidly from the start, he secured the room now occupied at No. 65 State street, 
and removed his stock and fixtures to these more commodious quarters on the 
first day of May, 1883. Here, as before, the business has pi'oved highly success- 
ful, the trade having doubled since the establishment of the business. A full 
line of pure and reliable drugs is kept constantly on hand, and a competent pre- 
scription clerk is always in attendance to compound the medicines. Previous to 
opening his drug store in Auburn, Mr. Adams had been engaged in a drug 
store in Moravia, (his native place,) for five years, and gained a thorough knowl- 
edge of the preparation of medicines and the wants of the trade. His store is 
fitted up with handsome show cases filled with a careful selection of those fancy 
goods usually for sale in first class drug stores. Mr. Adams is a member of the 
New York State Pharmaceutical Association. 

J. M. ELLIOTT. 

J. M. Elliott, the well-known and successful architect, whose fine offices are lo- 
cated in the Seward Block, at the corner of Genesee and Exchange streets, began 
business in Auburn in February, 1881. Prior to his advent in this city, Mr. 
Elliott had a large experience in practical building and in the professional work 
of an architect, in Chicago, New York, and other of the principal cities. Added 
to the extended practical experience, Mr. Elliott possessed, in an unusual measure, 
the attributes of excellent taste, sound judgment and ability as a designer. With 
this complete equipment, the public attention and confidence were soon secured and 
that he rapidly advanced to a leading position in the profession was not to be 
wondered at. During his comparatively short residence here, Mr. Ellibtt has 
built up for himself a very large and growing patronage, and the many fine 
structures which have been ei-cctcd from his drawings, are substantial evidences 
of the large skill he possesses in the line of his profession. Among tlie buildings 
erected from plans made by Mr. Elliott might be named the fine Wheeler Block, on 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 119 

William street, the elegant chapel of the Methodist church on South street, the 
Linnenbach block on State street, and numerous others. From plans prepared at 
his office, there are now nearly completed, the parsonage of the First Presbyterian 
church on Franklin street, and a fine residence for James A. Clary on John street. 
This season there are to be erected from Mr. Elliott's plans, the new building of the 
Young Men's Christian Association, on Genesee street, which will be, when com- 
pleted, the loftiest and finest public edifice in the city, a fine brick residence for 
Thomas Jones, on South street, an expensive house for Charles Standardt, on 
North street, an unique residence of red sand stone for William H. Ernsberger, 
at the corner of Lewis and Genesee streets, three large houses on Ross street, and 
numerous other structures. These examples will suffice to show the important 
business which Mr. Elliott has thus quickly secured in Auburn. Recently Mr. 
Elliott removed his office from Room No. 14 in the Seward Block, to Room No. 9, 
a very large and fine apartment on the second floor, until this time occupied as 
the private office of General C. D. MacDougall. A corps of four draughtsmen 
find permanent employment in the large and completely equipped office, and as 
circumstances require, the number is increased. In addition to the large local 
patronage accorded to Mr. Elliott, his reputation as a successful architect has 
been the means of attracting orders for fine residences from many outside points. 
In Jersey City, Lexington, Ky., Syracuse and many other near-by communities, 
as well as in far-away California, exist handsome structures, which were built 
from his plans. A very high standing in his profession lias been honestly 
won by Mr. Elliott, and a further and much wider growth of his business and 
reputation will certainly be gained by his worthy efforts. 

J. L BAKER. 

As a land surveyor and civil engineer, Mr. J. L. Baker is attaining an enviable 
reputation in this city, and his valuable services are frequently sought by parties 
residing at great distances. He has been engaged in this profession since 1870, 
giving most of his attention to farm surveying and the study of civil engineering. 
His success has been very gratifying, and in 1882, he was appointed to the respon- 
sible position of City Surveyor. During his term of office, many pieces of work 
requiring fine engineering skill have been completed by the city. Among the 
most notable work done was the building of the South street, Mac Dougall street, 
and Hamilton avenue sewers. The South street sewer is memorable on account 
of the difficulties to be overcome in putting in the sewer pipe, caused by quick- 
sand, and the amount of litigation over the building of this sewer. The satisfac- 
tory manner in which all the work constructed under Mr. Baker's supervision, and 
on the plans furnished by him, which fully answered the purposes for which they 
were intended, speaks highly for his ability. By the change of aldermen at the 
election of March, 1884, Mr. Baker was retired from city service, and now de- 
votes his entire attentions to his profession, and makes a specialty of surveying 
drainage work and the construction of sewers. His office is with T. J. Searls, 
Esq., attorney-at-law, at No. 76 and 761-2 Genesee street, over Sutton's drug 
store. His ability is undisputed, and with his character for integrity and reliabil- 
ity, must and will undoubtedly give him a large and steadily increasing clientele 
as the years roll by. 



120 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 



CHAPTER XXVIII, 



General Business Interests. 



THE NEW ERA IN AUBURN REAL ESTATE— A. W. LAWTON'S REAL 
ESTATE AND INSURANCE AGENCY— BARKER, GRISWOLD & CO. 



WITHIN the past two or three years there has been noticeable a decided 
improvement in the real estate interests of Auburn and the Owasco 
lake suburbs of the city. These interests, as will be readily con- 
ceded, are not second in importance to any other topic which properly may receive 
due attention in a work of this character, and it is believed that this sketch will 
find a careful perusal and awaken a keen interest in every citizen who is alive to 
the welfare of this place. While there have been erected during the time men- 
tioned above, many elegant residences on South, North, Genesee and others of the 
leading thoroughfares, generally speaking by the younger moneyed men of the 
place, there has been witnessed as well the putting into the market, followed by 
the sale and rapid improvement, of not a few of the old landed estates about 
the city, which for years had lain in a practically useless condition and thtis were 
stumbling blocks in the way of general improvement and development. The ex- 
ample which has thus been set before the public at large by the enterprising and 
energetic leaders in this movement, has had its beneficial effects upon the numy, 
and so it is that to-day the greatly altered appearance of many of the leading 
streets has been brought about, and that generally the property interests of the 
city were never before on a better footing. While the liberality and taste of such 
prominent citizens as the Sewards, Osborncs, Aliens, Woodruffs, and others have 
had tlieir weight in setting in motion the current which has borne along the prop- 
erty interests of Auburn so prosperously, there have been others to whose practical 
, efforts, directed by keen foresight, excellent judgment, and untiring energy, must 
be attributed justly no small credit for the greatly bettered state of things preva- 
lent at this time. While most men seem to have been endowed by dame nature 
with quali float ions which more or less fully fit them for the discharge of the duties 
of the occupation in which they are to be found seeking a livelihood, it is seldom 
indeed that our '"common mother " has the pleasure of finding one of her sons, 
so well employing the talents which she gave him. and in a direction to put tliom, 
with their competent exercise, into the most wide-reaching and beneficial re- 
sults to the whole community, as is the case with one concerning whom this sketch 
shall have more to present to the reader. About twelve years ago, A. W. Lawton 
returned to Auburn, after a considerable absence in the west, where he had given 
careful attention to the methods practiced by successful manipulators of real es- 
tate. As a yomig man, Mr. Lawton had been employed in the office of an old es- 
tablished dealer in real property of Auburn, and his added experience in tlic west 
had but served to sharpen his taste and more fully equip him for the active en- 
gagement in a cause wherein the handling and development of landed property should 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 121 

be the leading features. For a time he acted with much success as a special agent 
for the old and widely known Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York, 
for which corporation he still holds the agency for Cayuga County, and carries on 
the fourth largest business in the State outside the metropolis. A copartnership 
was later entered into with Wm. H. Eddy, and the firm of Lawton & Eddy, with 
their office over the Walley drug store, at the northwest corner of State and Gene- 
see street, carried on for a time a large real estate and insurance business. In 
1881, Mr. Lawton withdrew from this firm and took offices across the street over 
the Cayuga County Savings Bank. He has since been successful in building up a 
very large and important business as a negotiator in real estate. His work has been 
of undoubted value to the property interests of the city, and so of great benefit 
generally to the community. Aside from being merely a shrewd buyer and seller 
of property, Mr. Lawton is an entluisiastic believer in Auburn and its future, 
and of making solid and substantial improvements as rapidly as circumstances will 
warrant. In taking hold of a neglected property, he first assures himself that 
there is a possible future for it, as taking its location, cost of improvement and 
other important matters into account. Once decided, no amount of cold water 
can dash his enthusiasm. The work deemed necessary is at once undertaken. 
The land is cut up into lots of saleable size, streets are opened, grading is done, if 
needed, sidewalks are laid, sewers are constructed, and, behold, the public is in- 
vited to examine and buy if the terms suit. The result has been, that the pub- 
lic has seen, been suited and bought. It is the enthusiasm, the unfailing coui-age 
and untiring industry of the man, which awaken animation, inspire confidence, 
and ultimately effect results which at the outset seemed, if not utterly impracti- 
cable, at least highly problematical. The opening of the Gaylord property, on 
liis own personal account, the development of the Ross property in connection 
with Mr. E. D. Clapp, and of the Chedell estate conjointly with the late W. M. 
Williams, and very lately the successful disposition of the Hardenburgh property, 
form striking illustrations of what can be accomplished by pluck and hard work, 
directed by foresight and sound judgment of property values. While Mr. Law- 
ton has done much to improve the appearance of this city by his skillful handling 
and fine development of property within its borders, he has left no stone untui-ned 
in his efforts to bring to the favorable notice of his fellow-citizens and the public 
at lai'ge the advantages possessed by the shores of the beautiful lake lying just at 
the gates of the city, as sites for summer houses. Until within a very few years 
the charming hillsides of fair Owasco had I'emained almost wholly given over to 
the original forests, or the plow of the farmer, while upon the banks of the Seneca 
and Skaneatcles, the pleasant cottages of the well-to-do, or stately homes of the 
opulent, had been builded in numbers. The last two or three years have brought 
a change and now the shores of Owasco and its outlet are adorned by many elegant 
residences. While the old-time stately Throop mansion and the famous Sand 
Beach church still retain their attractiveness as objects of historical interest, the 
beautiful grounds and expensive homes, possessing all the taste and beauty of 
modern architecture, which have been reared by the Messrs. Seward, Osborne, 
Letchworth and others show that a new era has dawned and that great progress is 
yet to be made. The sincerity of Mr. Lawton's advocacy of the superior claims 
of Owasco's border lands over those of other- waters, is attested by the large out- 
lay he has made in the beautiful home and its surroundings, which he has 
builded upon a lofty eminence overlooking this pretty lake. Among those who 
have built for themselves fine homes in this near-by suburb, and have persistently 



122 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

labored for the development of the beauties and property advantages of the local- 
ity, Mr. Lawton was a pioneer. In the fine growth achieved thus far, and the 
promised further development, indicated by the fact that this season are to be 
built fine residences for Mr. Howard Case and others, he takes an honest pleasure 
and pride. While giving largely of his time to the development of the these 
large property interests, Mr. Lawton does not by any means neglect the general 
affairs of his important business. He is all the time making private sales and dis- 
posing of property for a small army of patrons. Last season his aggregate sales 
of real property in Auburn reached the great total of nearly a quarter of million 
of dollars. Auburn would be benefited by the possession of many more citizens 
of as untiring energy and large public spiritedness as Mr. Lawton, and a gener- 
ous continuation of the public esteem and patronage is certainly richly deserved 
by him. 

BARKER, GRISWOLD & CO. 

The firm whose name heads this sketch, while in its present form of but I'ecent 
establishment, consists of individuals who have for many years been connected in 
the capacity of proprietors or employes of the large business enterprise of which 
they are to-day joint owners. Until the present year, the business now conducted 
by Messrs. Barker, Griswold & Co., which is the largest exclusively retail clothing 
manufacturing concern in Auburn and vicinity, and possibly the entire State, 
was carried on for a considerable period under the name of F. L. Griswold & Co. 
The founder of the business, the late Franklin L. Griswold, in 1833 opened a 
small store on Genesee street east of Noi'th street, for the manufacture and sale of 
men's and boys' clothing. A few years later the business was removed to 89 Gene- 
see street. About this time Mr. Griswold entered into a contract with the State 
authorities for the employment of a considerable number of convicts in the Prison 
at this point for the manufacture of cheap articles of clothing. This fact gave to the 
place of business the name of the " Prison Clothing Store." In time the adjective 
"old"vvas added to this designation and as the "Old Prison Clothing Store," this large 
and flourishing enterprise has become widely and favorably known throughout 
this and several neighboring counties. The store originally occupied at 89 Genesee 
street was about 00x22 feet. As time passed and trade increased, various additions 
became necessary, and the establishment is to-day, as it has been for several years 
past, both in point of space occupied and tlie amount of goods made and 
sold entirely at retail, the largest of its kind perhaps in the State. The store 
is a double one, both 89 and 87 being included. The original depth was greatly 
increased by an addition at the rear, making the west store 180 feet long, and the 
east store 140 feet. The frontage is about 45 feet. The basements of both stores 
are used for storage of reserve stock. At the rear of 89 is the large cutting room, 
(50x22 teot. 1 n the second and third floor of the block the manufacturing depart- 
ment is located. About 200 persons find employment in the making of clothing for 
the trade of this great store. Four cutters are employed in the custom depart- 
ment, and the force on duty in the salesrooms consists of fourteen men. The 
amount expended annually for work reaches about $30,000. During the twelve 
montlis ending with January 1st, 1884, about 20,000 yards of clotli were cut and 
manufactured into men's garments in the -shops of Jiarker, Griswold & Co., for 
sale in the ready made department of the business. If this amount of cloth had 
been made into suits it would have clothed nearly 6.000 jnen. Manufactured as it 
was into overcoats, trousers, vests, coats, etc.> the greater portion of which gar- 



FACn.ITIES AND RESOURCES. 123 

ments find a separate sale, the consumers of this outfit for a single year would 
be nearly 20,000. This is truly a big constituency for a solely retail house. To 
this large business must be added the extensive patronage of the custom depart- 
ment, and the important and growing trade in boys' and children's garments and 
furnishing goods. The total annual sales of this house approximate $175,000. 
and the greater part of the business is done on a cash basis. As the public is al- 
ways interested in the personnel of a successful business firm, it is proper to state 
that Mr. J. L. Barker, now the head of this fine industry, is a half-brother of F. 
L. Griswold, the founder. He has been connected with the enterprise for thirty- 
four years, and for twenty one years in the capacity of a joint owner. Mr. F. H. 
Griswold, a son of the late F. L. Griswold, has been connected with the business 
for twenty-one years, and for sixteen years has owned an interest in the enter- 
prise. Mr. C. P. Mosher who holds the " Company" interest in the new firm, has 
been connected with " The Old Prison Store," for twenty years, and seven years a 
part owner. No enterprise with which this book has had to deal, is more firmly 
grounded in the popular esteem or substantially equipped for a long career of com- 
mercial prosperity than that of which a brief description has been given in this 
sketch. With ample capital, a widely extended and growing patronage, and di- 
rected by large experience, energy, and business sagacity, " The Old Prison Store" 
must continue to occupy for years to come a leading place among the important 
enterprises of its kind in this place and a large adjacent territory. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
General Business Interests. 



SKETCHES OF TWO SUCCESSFUL MEN— JOHN E. ALLEN, PROPRIE- 
TOR OF THE OSBORNE HOUSE — JAMES C. STOUT, THE CON- 
TRACTOR AND BUILDER. 



AS the popular proprietor of the Osborne House at Auburn, and of the Cayuga 
Lake Hotel at Sheldrake on Cayuga Lake, John E. Allen has become very 
widely known. He came to Auburn from the near-by village of Weedsport, 
about 1860, to enter the former well-known dry goods firm of Van Vechten & Lyon. 
In 1870 Mr. Allen withdrew from mercantile pursuits and entered upon his career as 
a landlord, by taking possession of the Atwood House at Weedsport. Although 
without previous experience in this line, Mr. Allen's venture proved successful, 
and the reputation of the Atwood House, as an excellently managed hotel, was 
high. About a year and half later this house was destroyed by fire. Mr. Allen's 
next venture as a hotel keeper was made in the following year. On May 1st, 1872, 
he took possession of a large hotel at Little Falls, then called the Benton House. 
The name was changed by him to the Girvan House, and by this title it is still desig- 
nated. A large patronage was enjoyed by the Girvan House, under the proprie- 
torship of Mr, Allen, and his reputation as a successful hotel man was well estab- 



124 



AUBURX, N. Y., ITS 





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THE OSBORNE HOUSE, CORNER STATE AND WATER STREETS. 

lished during his stay in Little Falls, which continued until 1877, while the prac- 
tical experience obtained in his two ventures thus far, supplementing many natur- 
al qualifications, was to be of great service in later more important enterprises. In 
1877, Mr. Allen leaving Little Falls, returned to Auburn, after an absence of sev- 
en years, to enter upon the management of tiie principal hotel of the place, namely 
the Osborne House. This fine hotel structure had been built in 187;:5-4 by D. M. 
<;)sborne, the head of the great and widely known reaper and mower manufactory 
located here, and was named in honor of its owner. The house stands at Uie south- 
west corner of State and Water streets. Its original dimensions were 50x50 feet, 
with a double L running back from the center of the building to Green street, a 
distance of 350 feet. The structure is of brick, covered with stucco, and four 
stories high, with French roof. Mr. Allen, on taking charge of this hotel, succeed- 
ed Benjamin Ashby, an old and widely known hotel keeper, the former proprietor 
at different periods, of the old Auburn, American, and Exchange iiotels in this 
city. Mr. Ashby had been in charge of the Osborne House from the time of its 
erection until Mr. Allen's advent in this city. With the proprietorship of JNIr. Al- 
len came an era of steady improvement of the building and development of the 
patronage of the house. In 1878 the original size of the house was greatly en- 
larged by the building of an extension on State street, 100 feet lon'g, and of equal 
height with the other jxirtion of the house. No further addition has since been re- 
quired to the building, the extension just described having given the house a total 
of llJOrinc roiins, withacapacity of 350 guests, but scarcely a year ha.s gone by with- 
out witnessing fine improvements in the appointment and furnisliing of the liouse. 
While the house throughout is exceedingly comfortable, the rooms being lai'ge, well 
lighted and ventilated and neatly furnished, and the halls large and airy, in 
certain {)articulars the Osborne House equals, if not excels, any liotel in the 
State, outside of the metropolis. The dining hall, a fine apartment 125x40 feet, is 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 125 

a model of elegant tastefulness and unique adornment. On its walls are a number 
of beautifully mounted deer heads and finely prepared natural game pieces. The to- 
tal seating capacity of the hall, which can be made into two rooms, is 150 guests, this 
being the number who were seated at the fine banquet given by Mayor Wheeler to the 
members of the military company known as the Wheeler Rifles and their guests, on 
the occasion of the completion of the decoration of this attractive room, January 
1st, 1883. In 1883 the fine office, reading room, and private business room of 
Mr. Allen, were handsomely ceiled and finished in hard wood. The billiard room 
and wine cafe have the present year been in the hands of the decorators and it is 
not too much to say that both apartments are exceedingly attractive in all their ap- 
pointments ; the wine cafe with its gold and silver adorned ceiling, beautiful 
bar appointments, and floral decorations, being one of the most handsomely fitted 
roomsfor similar use in the country. Among the recent important improvements 
of the house are the introduction of a fine steam heating apparatus, the electric 
light, and the fitting up of a second room for use as a billiard parlor. From these 
statements it will be seen that the Osborne is kept abreast of the times in all the 
attributes of a first-class metropolitan house. In carrying on this fine hotel the 
services of about forty persons are made use of by Mr. Allen. In addition to the 
management in such a successful manner of so excellent a house as the Osborne, 
Mr. Allen has greatly added to his popularity and wide acquaintance with the pub- 
lic by another enterprise. In the summer of 1883 he became the proprietor of the 
hotel and lake resort at Sheldrake-on-Cayuga, which had been opened three years 
previously, but had never become at all noted or largely patronized. With char- 
acteristic energy, Mr. Allen, soon after taking charge of this house caused it to be 
considerably increased in size and in his hands the place was carried on very suc- 
cessfully and with great satisfaction to the public for six seasons. This season the 
genial host of the Osborne, who has been wont for the past six summers to preside 
over the affairs of this charming Sheldrake resort, will be missed from that spot 
by his numerous former guests and admiring friends. An engagement has been 
entered into by Mr. Allen to conduct the summer hotel at Long Point, on tlie 
west shore of Seneca Lake, about sixteen miles from Geneva. This is a very de- 
lightful resort, possessing many points of attractiveness which are superior to those 
of Sheldrake. The hotel at Long Point is owned by Samuel K. Nester, a wealthy 
maltster of Geneva, N. Y., and an officer of the Seneca Lake Steam Navigation 
Company. This hotel was built in the spring of 1882, and opened to the public a 
few months later. The location of the house is a charming one. The point upon 
which the hotel is erected, extends into tlie lake many hundreds of feet from the 
mouth of a pleasant wooded valley. The surface of the point is very level, and de- 
lightful walks are to be enjoyed among the fine shade trees and along the pretty 
stream which runs through the property. The beach at either side of the point is 
clean and pebbly and the water of Seneca Lake is as pure as any in the world. 
The grounds contain a large summer pavilion for the use of transient guests. The 
hotel is a large three-story structure with slated roof and is of unique architecture. 
Its interior appointments are very complete and inviting, and the place is in all 
respects one of the most attractive in the State. The season at Long Point will 
open about June 15th. A fine orchestra of six pieces, under the direction of Prof. 
Schieht, of Auburn, will be in attendance throughout the season. The perform- 
ance of this orchestra formed a very delightful feature of the enjoyments to be had 
by the visitors to the Cayuga Lake House, and that they will prove highly attrac- 
tive at Long Point is not to be doubted. The grounds at Long Point are to be 



126 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

illuminated by the Thomson-Houston electric light this season, and no pains or ex- 
pense will be spared to make a visit to this charming spot both profitable and enjoya • 
ble. Mr. Allen will have in his employ, all told, not less than 100 people, in the seve- 
ral branches of his business. The high standing in the confidence and esteem of the 
public which is enjoyed by Mr. Allen has been won by an honest and earnest en- 
deavor to cater to his patrons in a thorough and satisfactory manner. He is in 
every sense of the word a first-class hotel man, and the best wishes of a widespread 
and fast growing constituency of former and present guests will wish him the 
fullest measure of success in his new and larger business enterpi-ises. 

JAMES C. STOUT. 

The responsibility resting upon the one to whom the work of erecting a large 
and fine public building or an imposing private residence is committed, is admit- 
tedly important, and the satisfactory discharge of the duties arising from a trust of 
the kind argues the possession of brains and executive force in no small measure 
by the successful contractor. It is to a short outline of the career and achievements 
of a man of this stamp that this article will be devoted. In 1869, J. C. Stout, a 
young man who had mastered the practical details of the trade of carpenter and 
joiner, established himself in this city in the business of contractor and builder. 
The thorough ipanner in which the work committed to him was executed in every 
instance, soon won for him the highest public confidence, and from receiving or- 
ders for the building of small and unimportant structures, he very soon entered 
upon contracts for the erection of many of the finest buildings which Auburn pos- 
sesses. Among these structures was foremost of all, the State Armory, located on 
the north side of Water street, erected in 1872. A complete description of this 
fine building will be found in another part of this work. The prestige secured by 
Mr. Stout through the admirable manner in which this large undertaking was 
brought to a successful termination, has remained with him and greatly aided him 
in securing desirable and important contracts. A complete list of the many ad- 
mirable buildings which have been constructed by Mr. Stout would require more 
space than is available at this time. A few of the more important are included 
among the houses of George Barber on West Genesee street, James Kerr on State 
street, the buildings of the Auburn Manufacturing Works on Clark street, the 
Button factory on Logan street, the U. M. Osbrirne rolling mills and malleable 
iron works, the residences of J. H. Woodruff, F. P. Taber and G. W. 
Allen on South street, the Osborne Block on Genesee street, the Wheeler 
block on William street, the residences of the Messrs. Alley on North 
street, and the State street extension of the Osborne House. Mr. Stout 
has now in hand the work of constructing an extension to St. P.eter's church, 
and ha? recently completed the new Sunday School for the Methodist church 
on South street, and now has in course of erection the First Baptist church 
on West Genesee street. In the neighboring village of Skaneateles, exist evidences 
of the thorough work of Mr. Stout in the elegant residences of J. C. Willetts of 
that place, and D. C. Robbins, of New York, a peculiarity of the residence of 
Mr. Robbins l)eing that it is built entirely of wood, no plaster entering into its 
construction. 

In 187G Mr. Stout took possession of the large brick building at tlie junction of 
Water and Dill streets, where a great part of the woodwork for the buildings he 
has constructed is manufactured. Recently the four story brick building adjoin- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. ^ 127 

ing that all along occupied by Mr. Stout, was vacated by the Phoonix Button Co. 
This also has been leased by Mr. Stout, and cabinet making on a considerable scale 
has been added to his former business. Stair work, doors, blinds, mantles, and 
other wood work requiring large skill and experience for its successful manufac- 
ture is produced. Orders for stair work, veneered doors, mantles, side-boards, and 
all kinds of interior wood-work will be promptly and satisfactorily executed and 
shipped to any point. 

The extent of the business carried on by Mr. Stout will become apparent from 
the statement that he employs throughout the summer months about eighty men, 
and in the winter about fifty men. His monthly pay-roll to mechanics alone will 
reach about $4,000. The fine reputation and extensive business which Mr. Stout 
has secured have been gained by his thorough reliability and enterprise. In 
achieving a business success, he has given to this handsome city many admirable 
structures which are a credit to his skill and taste, and add very much to the 
beauty of the place in which they exist. Further and growing usefulness and 
popularity are to be enjoyed by this worthy citizen. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



General Business Interests, 



WATSON, COX & CO. — WEEKS, COSSUM & CO. — TENBYCK & CO. 
C. A. PORTER— L. MARSHALL. 



THE opportunities presented the shrewd operator for rapidly making money 
through the fluctuation of stocks sold in open market, make stock speculation 
a favorite business with many people. It possesses a peculiar fascination 
for those having money to invest, and the fortunes that have been made by many 
well-known people serve to increase not only the number of those engaging in it 
as a business, but those indulging in it as a pastime. Although speculation has 
been indulged in, more or less, in the smaller cities and towns for years, opera- 
tions have necessarily been limited, through lack of facilities for keeping trace of 
the constantly changing market, which places the operator at a disadvantage ; and 
large transactions have been confined principally to New York and the other 
cities in which are located regular exchanges. Of late years, however, the 
amount of business going from the smaller places has caused men of foresight and 
enterprise to open olfices for the transaction of the business at home, and the ranks 
of the speculators have consequently received large accessions. Here in Auburn 
speculators enjoy facilities that are equalled by few of the stnaller cities and sur- 
passed by few of the larger ones even. The office of Watson, Cox & Co., the com- 
mission stock brokers at No. 83 Genesee street, is not only connected with New 
York by private wire, but Mr. Townsend Cox, of the firm, is a member of the 
New York Stock Exchange, thus giving to their patrons the same advantages 
they would enjoy were they in New York and on Wall street themselves. All 



138 AUBURN N. Y., ITS 

properties dealt in at the New York Stock Exchange, local stocks and mining 
stocks, are bought and sold on commission by Watson, Cox & Co., who are con- 
stantly receiving quotations and sending orders by their private wire. This busi- 
ness was established by the iirm, July 28, 1879, under the Auburn Savings Bank, 
but their largely increased business, as well as a desire for a more prominent loca- 
tion, caused them, two years ago, to remove to the commodious quarters now 
occupied, where every facility and convenience is offered their patrons that could 
be desired. The members of the iirm are G. W. Watson, Townsend Cox and B. 
Ashby. Messrs, Watson and Ashby, who are both natives of Auburn, well and 
favorably known, also conduct, under the firm name of Watson «& Co., a general 
banking and insurance business, in the same building, while Mr. Cox resides in 
New York city. From the start, this house has been successful in business and 
has steadily risen in public esteem until now it is acknowledged to be one of the 
most responsible brokerage houses in Central New York. Liberal, far-seeing and 
enterprising gentlemen, they have won success in their business here by deserving 
it, and their future career is certainly filled with as bright promises. 

WEEKS, COSSUM & CO. 

In March, 1881, Forrest Gr. Weeks and Frederic Cossum entered into partner- 
ship in the wholesale and retail paper trade in all its branches. They believed 
they saw in Auburn an opening for such a house, and that their belief was well 
founded is proven by the success that has attended the institution from its infancy. 
In the spring of 1883, Mr. M. S. Cuykendall joined the two former partners, and 
the style of the firm was then changed to that of Weeks, Cossum & Co. 
When the firm was first organized, they were located at No. 21 Market street ; in 
1882 they built the building they now occupy, which is a three-story brick block, 32 
feet wide by GO feet in depth, and is located at 22 Market street. The ground 
floor is occupied by their retail store and office, and the line of goods carried in 
this department is complete in every particular, excepting that of library books, 
which they do not handle. In blank books of every description, twine, pads, no- 
tions, etc., their stoi-e is well filled. The wholesale department is doing a thriving 
business. They have constantly on the road two or more ti-aveling agents, who 
look after the firm's interests throughout the States of New York and Pennsylvania. 
This is the only house of its kind in Auburn ; and it required some superior ad- 
vantage at the outset, in order to cope with established houses at other points. 
This fii-m had these advantages in the shape of being their own manufacturers, 
having three large paper mills at Skaneateles, one at Manlius, and anotlior at Ful- 
ton, where they manufacture all grades of print and other paj)ers, The railroad 
facilities at Auburn being as good as could be desired, and selling pjipors of their 
own make principally, placed them in a position where they could successfully 
compete with any and all other houses, both as to price paid, quality of paper 
given, and time of delivery. They of coui'se hoped to receive a share of the pub- 
lic's patronage, but did not anticipate that in two or three short years the amount 
of trade they now enjoy could possibly bo brought about. It is much beyond 
their expectations. Each member of the Arm is a thorough business n)an, and 
fully understands the business they are engaged in, (the paper trade being one in 
which oidy experienced men can hope to be successful, because of so much compe- 
tition,) and it is safe to say that in a few years this firm will be in the lead of all 
j)aper dealers in this section of the country, in fact they are now supplying the 
nuijcjr portion of the newspapers throughout the State with (heir "print." 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. l'2{) 




TEN p:yck & CO. 

lu 1868, Mr. James fl. Ten Eyck conceived the idea of reproducing common 
photographs into larger sizes for framifig. He was one of the first to enter this 
business, and to test it before inve^ting any large amount of capital he made ar- 
rangements with an experienced photographer to do the work, while he proceeded 
to canvass for orders. Success was almost instantaneous, and when the summer of 
1869 had arrived, it was found necessary to take in a partner, who came in the 
person of Mr. William S. Ten Eyck, a brother. Two years later, their father, 
George H.. entered the firm. In 1881, the brother, William S., died, and the 
business has since been conducted by the remaining partners. This business has 
constantly and steadily increased at such a rate that to-day the firm is giving 
employment to over 40 experienced artists. Aside from these 40 or more persons 
here engaged with Messrs. Ten Eyck & Co., they have hundreds of agents through- 
Out the country. Their trade even extends very extensively throughout Mexico. 
The work turned out by this house will annually amount to about $70,000. The 
elegant building occupieil by the firm is 25 feet front, 115 feet deep, and is situated 
in the heart of the city, at 108 (lenesee street, adjoining the First National Bank 
building. They occupy the third and fourth floors of the building, and tiie third 
floor over the bank. Having a very large western trade, a Chicago branch was 
established some years ago, in the fine building located at the corner of State and 
Washington streets. 

C. A. PORTER. 

The State street lumber yard of C. A. Porter is comparatively a new business 
concern. It was opened by Mr. Ten Eyck De Puy, of Rochester, N. Y., in Janu- 
ary, 1881, and was transferred to the present proprietor in July, 1882. Mr. Por- 
ter has had an experience of 14 years in all branches of the lumber trade, having 
been in the employ of Mr. De Puy for eight years, and for several years superin- 
tendent of that gentleman's immense saw mills in Canada; he has also been an ex- 
tensive inspector of pine lumber and timber for the Canadian and American mar- 
kets. This experience has so acquainted him with these branches of the business 
that he is enabled to give special attention to furnishing pine bill timber of the 
best quality for raih'oad bridges and trestles. Mr. Porter also passed about four 
years in the lumber business in Pennsylvania, and has special facilities for furnish- 
ing Pennsylvanian hemlock of the best quality at wholesale and retail. Ho has 
contracts with some of the largest mills in that state, and has such favorable rates 



130 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

for frei<jht, that he has been able to soil at wholesale to dealers all along the line 
of the N. Y. C. R. R., in fact ho has sold to some of the largest wholesale lum- 
ber dealers in Syracuse, within the past six months, nearly one-half million feet. 
He is also working up a good trade in white wood, which he furnishes both in 
squares for turning piazza posts, &c., and in thin stuff for carriage bodies and 
panels and house furnishings, for which purposes it is unexcelled by any other 
wood. He finds, too, that his local sales have nearly doubled his expectations. 
This speaks well for the energy and push of a young man, who, coming here only 
one and one-half years ago, has been able to work up such a trade in this section 
in so short a time. He is a man who does just as he agrees every time, and is at 
all times on the alert for business. He strives to satisfy his patrons in every re- 
spectj. The success met with by Mr. Porter, during his first year's business in 
Auburn, must be very gratifying. 

L. MARSHALL. 

The city of Aviburn gives many examples of the legitimate and healthy growth 
of business houses from small beginnings, and among them there are none bi-ighter 
than the very successful and growing store of L. Marshall, dealer in gentlemen's 
furnishing goods at 24 State street, corner of Dill. This house was established in 
1871, when Mr. Marshall, who for several years had been clerking in the city, 
opened, on his own account, a small business at No. 115 Genesee street, where he 
occupied one quarter of the store room of H. & D. Strauss. Having learned the 
business thoroughly, and applying himself to the advancement of his business, 
he was very successful. In 1874 his business had outgrown the narrow quarters, 
and securing the store room at No. 34 State street, he removed there and laid in a 
larger stock of goods. On the first of May, 1884, he moved into the large and 
handsome storeroom now occupied in the old arjnory building, which was finely 
fitted up for him, and which he has fully stocked with a large line of the best 
ready made clothing, making a specialty of ''Rochester clothing," hats, 
caps, collars, cuffs, neckwear and hosiery. He has also a department devoted to 
children's clothing, of which he carries a very fine stock. One year ago Mr. 
Marshall adopted the one price system, which has proved highly satisfactory 
alike to proprietor and customers. Having a thorough knowledge of his business 
in every branch, he is fully prepared to satisfy the most careful buyer. 



CHAPTER XXXL 



General Business Interests. 



LYON, ELLIOTT & BLOOM — WARD & TOMPKINS — W. J.SUTTON 
THREE WELL KNOWN GENESEE STREET HOUSES. 



SOJlp] one with an inquiring turn of mind, and a taste for statistical research, 
has gathered together with infinite pains a series of figures which show, 
pi-esumably with considerable accuracy, the average terms of duration of 
mercantile ventures in the several leading branches of trade. While the writer 
has not at hand these tables, wherewith to fortify the statement, the opinion is 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 131 

ventured that out of a hundred stores which might be opened in any single year 
for the sale of dry goods, not more than ten would be found a decade later to be 
in the hands of the original proprietors, and in a great many instances the venture 
would be found to have proved a total failure. The history of the dry goods 
trade, as represented by the experience of the several firms which have been in 
that branch of business here during the last twelve years, seems to bear out these 
conclusions. It is a singular fact that the widely known and largely suecassful 
firm of dry goods merchants, whose name heads this sketch, is the only one in ex- 
istence here to-day, who were doing business in Auburn at the time of their estab- 
lishment in 1873. Further than that, it is stated to be a fact that outside of the 
firm mentioned, there is not an individual associated with a dry goods house here, 
in the capacity of owner or joint owner, who was at that time engaged in the 
trade here. Any one who has returned after an absence of several years to a city 
or village with which he was formerly familiar, has noticed in a general way the 
many changes which have thus quickly taken place in the business establishments 
and the firms by whom they were formerly carried on. Facts like those cited 
above, bring to the mind with great force and directness the fact that there are un- 
ceasing changes in all the affairs of life and that business ventures, even when 
made under the most favorable auspices, are extremely hazardous. Looking at 
matters in this light, the public does only an act of justice to accord high credit to' 
those who have successfully met all competition, discounted disaster, and by force 
of business, capacity, fair dealing and strictest reliability have compelled large 
mercantile success, and placed their enterprises upon a secure financial basis. On 
the first of Februarv, 1872, the firm of Lyon, Elliott & Bloom was organized. 
Lewis E. Lyon, the leading member, had been since 1866 connected with the 
large firm of Simons Brothers & Co., of Boston, and for some years was the junior 
partner in the concern. The business of this house was the manufacturing and 
importing for sale to jobbers exclusively, of men's furnishing goods. In 1862 Mr. 
Lyon had come to Auburn as a boy to clerk in the store of H. Woodruff. Four 
years later he moved to Boston, and after an absence of six years he returned to 
this city to enter upon what has proved a highly successful mercantile cai-eer. 
George W. Elliott, prior to his entering into the partnership with which he is now 
connected, had been a member successively of the firms of Vail & Elliott, and 
Smith & Elliott, by whom the sale of dry goods had been carried on in this city 
for a number of years. The third member of this firm, Richard H. Bloom, also 
brought to this venture a considerable experience, having been formerly for some 
time a member of the firm of Startwell, Hollister & Co. Thus thoroughly 
equipped in the matter of large mercantile experience, Messrs. Lyon, Elliott & 
Bloom secured the fine store at 85 Genesee street, and at tlie time stated above 
began business. A large patronage was rapidly acquired and their store has for a 
number of years been generally recognized as the leading one of its kind in this 
city and vicinity. While other concerns have gone to the wall, this enterprise has 
been pushed steadily forward, and the volume of trade increased year by year is 
very large indeed. The stock carried is very large and complete, embracing a 
full line of staple and fancy dry goods, cloaks and shawls. This firm have the 
sole agency for the sale of the famous Excelsior brand of woolen yarns, and are 
exclusive jobbers of the celebrated Auburn Woolen Mills remnants and pattern 
pieces of cloths and cassimeres. The main salesroom of this establislnnent is 
140x25 feet. Besides this floor, the basement and a portion of another floor are 
occupied. In the employ of the firm there are 30 persons. Several traveling 



132 AUBURN, X. Y., ITS 

salesmen are kept on the road, and a considerable wholesale business is transacted. 
The fine business success which has been achieved for their enterprise by the 
Messrs. Ijyon, Elliott & Bloom, stamps them as merchants of large energy, sagac- 
ity and resources. They have won for themselves well deserved pecuniary suc- 
cess and established a business which seems possessed of all the elements necessary 
to secure for it a long career of usefulness and large prosperity. 

WARD & TOMPKINS 

Among the many very attractive and ably managed mercantile establishments 
which grace Genesee street, the main thoroughfare of Auburn, the writer has in- 
spected none which more thoroughly merits special description in this little vol- 
ume than the large and admirably stocked carpet store of JVIessrs. Ward & Tomp- 
kins, which is located at No. 77. This important enterprise, which is to-day the 
largest and most prosperous exclusive carpet and upholstering goods establishment 
in this portion of the State, has grown in less than five yeai's from a small begin- 
ning made by Mr. W. S. Ward. This enterprising gentleman in 1879 o^:>ened a 
small stock of carpets, mattings, etc., in a store about 20x30 feet, situated at the 
corner of Genesee and William streets. The business proved successful iniTnedi- 
ately, and in 1880 Mr. F. B. Tompkins entered into a copartnership with Mr. 
Ward, under the present firm name, the store at No. 77 Genesee street was se- 
cured, the stock largely increased and a rapid gi*owth of the enterprise has resulted. 
The main floor of the establishment of Messrs. Ward & Tompkins is a fine sales- 
room, 160 feet deep and 20 feet in width. In this department is kept the large 
and finely selected carpet stock, which embraces all grades of goods, from cheap 
ingrains to the best axminsters, the most expensive moquettes, body brussels, etc. 
The large basement salesroom contains the oil cloths, mattings, etc. The second 
floor of the building, which is readily accessible from the main floor by a broad 
and ea^y stairway ascending trom the centre of the store, contains the depart- 
ment devoted to upholstering goods and curtains. The arrangement of the large 
and varied stock in this department is very tasteful and attractive. Here one 
may find a very varied line of wares, from the cheapest kind of curtain to the rich- 
est embroidered lace and tapestry. When fully stocked, this fine store carries 
goods to the aggregate value of $50,000. Six salesmen are employed in the sev- 
eral branches. The yearly sales amount to .| UK), 000. The rapid growth" of the 
fine business conducted by Messrs. Ward & Tompkins indicates the fact that there 
existed here a pressing demand for a well-eonduetod store of the kind, and also 
demonstrates the possession of large business oajmcity and a special fitness for the 
business on the part of the gentlemen who have thus quickly gained for themselves 
and their venture wide public recognition and material success. The store of 
Messrs. Ward & Tompkins does high credit to Auburn, and justly ranks among 
the leading successful mercantile concerns of this fine city. 

WILLIAM J. SUTTON. 

A very familiar name among the business men who have occupied the stores 
on Genesee street for upwards of twenty-five years, and indeed one which through 
the enterprise and business sagacity of its possessor has become widely and favor- 
ably known in this whole community, is that which prefaces this sketch. William 
J. Sutton, after a practical experience of six years, beginning in 1854 in the old 
and favorably known drug house of John L. Thompson, Sons & Co., at Troy, 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 133 

came in June, 1860, to this city. On Juno 39, 1860, he succeeded by purchase to 
the drug business of Dr. David L. Dodge, which was then being carried on at 99 
(xenesee street. This business had been conducted prior to Dr. Dodge's proprie- 
torship, by George D. Wells. Associated nearly two years with Mr. Sutton at the 
outset was P. VV. Rhodes. In 1861 the drug and medicine business of H. G. Fow- 
ler, located in a store which occupied the site of the Auburn Savings Bank, corner 
of South and Genesee streets, was purchased by Sutton & Rhodes. The firm con- 
ducted both stores until the spring of 1862, when a division occurred, Mr. Sutton 
continuing the store at 99 Genesee street, and Mr. Rhodes assuming charge of the 
business purchased of Mr. Fowler. The venture of Mr. Rhodes proving unsuc- 
cessful, the Fowler stock was sometime afterwards purchased for sixty cents on 
the dollar by Mr. Sutton and combined with his stock at 107 Genesee street, to 
which place his business had been previously removed. An interesting fact in the 
business history of Auburn is recalled by a "relic '" now in the possession of Mr. 
Sutton. This is nothing less than a fractional currency check, bearing date 
November 1st, 1862. At that time silver having become very scarce, Mr. Sutton 
conceived the idea of having ijrinted and issued fractional currency checks to the 
amount of $1,000. This was the first issue of the kind made in this place. These 
cliecks were quite generally made use of by merchants throughout the city. After 
a time, similar checks were issued by Augustus Howland, President of the Auburn 
City Bank. Mr. Sutton then notified the public that he would redeem his checks 
with those of the City Bank. Only a very few of them, however, were ever pre- 
sented for such redemption. In 1835 Mr. Sutton removed his prosperous business 
to No. 107 Genesee street, after having expended a considerable sum in the refit- 
ting of the store. An innovation made at this time was the introduction of a 
marble floor, which was the first put into a business place in Auburn. Mr. Sutton 
continued to occupy No. 107, where he enjoyed a large and successful patronage, 
until the property changed hands in 1878. On May 1st of that year, he leased and 
took possession of the admirably located and attractive store at the southwest cor- 
ner of Genesee and South streets, where his business is now located. A lai-ge and 
varied stock is carried in this store, which is a model of neatness and attractive 
arrangement, and is withal one of the most popularly conducted business enter- 
prises of the city in which it is located, a position which has been honestly won by 
a worthy career extending through nearly a quarter of a century. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



General Business Interests. 



INGALLS & CO. — THE SINGER SEWING MACHINE CO.— THE AUBURN 
COPYING CO.— FREDERICK ALLEN. 



THE rapid growth into public favor of the large boot and shoe store located 
at No. 18 North street, is due to the sagacity and enterprise shown in its 
management, as well as the bargains offered to the people. In 1876, 
Messrs. Ingalls & Co., of Boston and Syracuse, who are large buyers of bankrupt 
stocks of boots and shoes, opened thLs branch of their extensive business and 



134 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

placed in charge of it Mr. Albert Van Tassel. He conducted the business for a 
time, and the plan on which it was operated being a novel one, a large trade was 
immediately secured. Mr. A. Robinson succeeded Mr. Van Tassel and was in 
turn succeeded by John Dickinson. Mr. L. W. Knight succeeded him in October. 
1883. The trade, which had somewhat fallen off previous to Mr. Knight becoming 
manager, has increased under his skillful management, and the house is fast re- 
gaining the place in public favor once held by it. This store is but one of thirteen 
similar establishments founded by Messrs. Ingalls & Co., and in successful opera- 
tion at this time, of which nine are located in this State — in the following places : 
Troy, Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Elmira, Rochester, Watertown, Albion and Me- 
dina. This large and successful business was founded in Syracuse in 1874, when 
Mr. Ingalls purchased a large stock of goods at bankrupt sale. Not attempting to 
put them on the market in the usual retail way, he gave the people the benefit of 
the low price at which they were purchased, by opening a store and marking the 
stock as bankrupt, with prices accordingly. The success was phenomenal, and tak- 
ing advantage of the knowledge thus gained, the firm of Ingalls & Co. was formed and 
the business which has since gained such gigantic proportions was begun. Messrs. 
G. W. Ingalls and S. B. Thing, both natives of Boston, composed the firm, Mr. 
Ingalls having charge of the western trade with headquarters at Syracuse, and 
Mr. Thing the eastern trade with central office at Boston. Buying as they do, they 
are enabled to offer such bargains as could be secured in no other way. And that 
the people appreciate this, needs but to point to the successful condition of the 
different branches. Mr. L. W. Knight, the manager of the xVuburn house, is a 
courteous and active business man, and one who cannot but add to the prestige 
already gained. 

THE SINGER SEWING MACHINE CO. 

The crude and unsatisfactory manner in which the first sewing machines were 
placed on the market is still fresh in the minds of the people. In fact, many of 
the new companies that have sprung into existence during the past decade are 
still pursuing this plan of disposing of their manufactures. The machine made, 
it becomes necessary to sell it, and that plan by which it can soonest be placed in 
the consumer's hands with the least risk and cost to the manufacturer, was the one 
adopted. This led to the selling at large discounts to agents, they in turn selling 
to the consumer, and in this manner all connection between the producer and con- 
sumer was severed, the responsibility of the former for their machines being lim- 
ited to the time in which the machine was in their own hands. The abuses aris- 
in"- from this method of conducting the business increased so rapidly that the 
Sin"-er Company, the great pioneers in the field for public favor, determined that 
so far as their trade vvas concerned at least, it must cease. This led to the estab- 
lishment by them of general and sub-agencies through which the people were en- 
abled to deal directly with the company, every machine being guaranteed and the 
company being responsible for its guarantee — not the agent. And to this very 
liberal method of dealing with its patrons, in connection with the fact that the 
Sino'cr is one of the most durable and desirable machines on the market, is due 
the splendid success of the Singer Manufacturing Company. The high-arm oscil- 
latin"- shuttle machine, introduced to the trade by the Singer Company in 1881, 
soon compelled the acknowledgment that without a doubt it was the easiest and fast- 
est running, as well as the least noisy lock-stitch sewing machine made, and largely 
increased the reputation of this old company. These machines have been intro- 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 



135 




duced into the shoe factories of Auburn, and are not only giving entire satisfac- 
tion, but with the hundreds of others sold in this neighborhood for family use, are 
making new friends and sales every day. Every wearing part is made with coni- 
cal bearing, thus allowing all lost motion to be taken up, and in every other detail 
the New Singer is up to the highest standard of sewing machine manufacture. 
Taking all its points of excellence into consideration, it is without doubt the com- 
ing machine, and the fact that 2,200 sewing machines were manufactured each day 
during the past season by the Singer Manufacturing Co., attests the high estima- 
tion in which the Singers are held by the public. The Auburn branch of the 
Singer Sewing Machine Company, at No. 126 Genesee street, is headquarters for 
Cayuga County, and is managed by Mr. Cornelius B. Alliger, a gentleman well 
known to the people of this county, and one whom this company was very fortu- 
nate in securing as their representative here. A courteous and affable gentleman, 
it is a pleasure to at call the office over which he presides and examine the large line 
of sewing machines on exhibition or purchase the needles or repairs required, for 
not only is a full stock of everything pertaining to the sewing machine kept on 
hand, but the visit is made memorable by the polite treatment received at his 
hands. From six to ten men, with horses and wagons, are employed as sub-agents, 
for placing machines throughout the county under Mr. Alliger's supervision, and it 
is doubtless owing to his wise management that the business of the Singer Com- 
pany has increased so largely in this county during the past five years. Mr. Alli- 
ger was engaged as a keeper in the Auburn prison from 1873 until 1875, when he 
devoted his attention to the sale of sewing machines of the Davis pattern, but in 
1879 he was offered his present position, and accepting it, has given not only satis- 
faction to his company but to the people of Cayuga County as well, and each suc- 
ceeding year will doubtless show a large increase in the sales while the Auburn 
branch of this great company is under his control, 

THE AUBURN COPYING CO. 



This house is located at Nos. 85 and 87 Genesee street, and is in charge of Mr. 
C. S. Ilutchins, who has had an experience in the photograph business of many 
years— 35 years ago having been a maker of ambrotypes at his old home, Augusta,. 



136 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

Maine. About nine years ago this company, then under the management of C. S. 
and E. K. HutHniis, foninienced business in a small way, which soon grew to large 
proportions. About two years later, Mr. C. S. Hutchins assumed entire charge of 
the concern, and the affairs of the company have steadily and surely been benefit- 
ted each year through his able and practical management. About the time that 
this gentleman took the house, they moved into the quarters they now occupy, 
where they have a capacity for pi-inting from 225 to 300 portraits per day. In the 
matter of fine reproducing instruments or cameras, this company have just added 
something necessary for producing certain classes of work which has heretofoi-e re- 
(^uired two or even three enlargements before the desired size could be reached — 
that of the smallest miniature pictures. This hQuse has several of the very latest 
patented sis-foot double bellows cameras, with which they can reproduce a pic- 
ture the size of a pin-head to any desired size at its first enlargement. Their fa- 
cilities throughout are ample, and enable them to guarantee their work in every 
manner. Their artists are among the best in the country, being selected with the 
greatest care by Mr. Hutchins. Their business extends over the entire country, 
and quite extensively through the British provinces and Cuba. Mr. Ilutchins gives 
his personal attention to all the details, and is in every way a successful manager. 
The principal claim made by him is "that their long experience in the business, 
and ample facilities at command enable them to produce with ease and certainty, 
faithful and accurate likenesses, finished in the most pleasing and artistic manner, 
at pi'icesmuch lower than those of many establishments whose work is far inferior." 

FREDERICK ALLEN. 

The large trade now enjoyed by Mr. Allen at his handsome and convenient store 
at No. 110 Genesee street, is the outgrowth of a small business established in 1859, 
at No. 67 Genesee street on the corner of North street. The business was contin- 
ued here, increasing from year to year, until 1876, when the present place being for 
rent it was secured and Mr. Allen's stock removed to it. The store room occupied 
is filled up with handsome cases, filled with a fine selection of fancy goods, Foley's 
gold pens, and mathematical instruments. A full line of blank books, school and 
miscellaneous books, arte to be found on his shelves, also all the best manufactures 
of inks and writing fluids. 

A large and well selected circulating library is connected with the store, which, 
conducted as it is, has proved highly successful and satisfactory, both to the pro- 
pi-ietor and its patrons. Mr. Allen has conducted his store on principles that to 
be economical and obliging is to be successful, and the large and lucrative business 
now conducted by him, fully illustrates the truth of it. Mr. Allen is widely 
know as one of Auburn's active business men, and all objects having for its aim 
the city's good receive from him a hearty co-operation. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 137 



CHAPTER XXXIIL 



General Business Interests. 



A. E. SW^IRTOUT— JOHN W. RICE — ALEX. McCREA — HENRY D. 
BARTO — FOUR WIDELY-KNOWN BUSINESS MEN. 



IT will be readily conceded by the impartial reader of thiS work that the large 
success which has been gained in less than a decade by A. E. Swartout, 
proprietor of the elegant and splendidly stocked clothing establishment at 
75 Genesee street, entitles that gentleman to a prominent position in the ranks of 
the leading business representatives of this fine city. Coming here from Utica, in 
the fall of 1875, Mr. Swartout, then not having attained his majority, 
leased and put a small stock of ready made clothing into the store at No. 123 
(xenesee street. By fair dealing, and the exhibition from the outset of great en- 
terprise and business shrewdness, qualities for which he has become noted in 
Cayuga County, the young merchant soon established himself and his venture in 
the popular esteem, and a good patronage resulted. Two years later his trade had 
outgrown the limited quarters at No. 123, and in 1877 the business was removed to 
63 Genesee, the main floor, at first, only being made use of. Later, the second floor 
was secured and a fine line of boys' and children's clothmg was put into that part 
of the store. Trade continuing to develop, a more commodious store became 
necessary. Accordingly in April, 1833, the very desirable business stand in the 
handsome building at 75 Genesee street was taken possession of. This fine store, 
which is 150 feet deep, with a frontage of 30 feet, had previously been through- 
out refitted and elegantly decorated at large expense by Mr. Swartout. His 
stock was considerably increased, notably in the finer line of gentlemen's clothing 
and a complete stock of furnishing goods. Upon reopening his business at this 
place, Mr. Swartout had the pleasure of displaying to the public what was then, 
and still remains, one of the finest appointed clothing establislnnents in the 
State. Prom the beautiful full length plate windows, filled with a frequently 
changing and highly attractive disjjlay of fine wares, to the admirably arranged 
and largely stocked boys' and children's department at the rear of the large 
sales room, everything is handsome, neat and in perfect order. The average 
stock carried is about $25,000, but this figure is of course considerably increased 
as the trade requires. Mr. Swartout's taste and judgment in the selection of 
goods are widely known and need no comment. Upon his counters are to be found 
all the novelties and leading staple wares known to the trade. To be clad in gar- 
ments from this fine establishment is always to be well dressed, and at the most 
satisfactory terms. In the employ of this popular merchant are a corps of efficient 
and corteous salesmen, each of whom has a host of friends and patrons. Thus in 
the selection of his assistants, Mr. Swartout is equally as sagacious and fortunate 
as in conducting the otlier affairs of his business. In addition to the large sales- 
room, of which a general description lias been given, the entire basement is occu- 



138 



AUBURX, X. Y„ ITS 




swartout's clothing store. 



pied by reserve stock in packages, Xo stone is left unturned by this enterprising 
merchant in making the public familiar with his business, its location, and large 
resources. An attractive monthly paper is issued by him and widely circulated. 
He is a generous patron of the public prints, and of all projects that arc for the 
general welfare and interest of the community. The handsome front of his beau- 
tiful store, and the name of its popular proprietor have become widely familiar ih 
this section, and the result is a constantly growing trade, and secure commercial 
footing. Success thus honestly won is richly deserved, and best of all, has the 
largest prospects of permanence, because based on the confidence and esteem of the 
public at large. 

JOHN W. RICE. 

The dry goods business situated at Xo. 103 Genesee street, of which John W. 
Rice, as the successor of Sartwell, Ford & Rice, is now the sole proprietoi-, is un- 
questionably the oldest established enterprise of the kind now in existence in 
Auburn. The building in which the store is located, was erected in 1836 by the 
late J. II. Chedell. As soon as completed it was taken possession of and 
opened as a dry goods store by the venerable Harmon Woodruli", who is one of the 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 139 

few old time merchants of Auburn, still surviving. After an occupancy of the 
premises of about five years, Mr. Woodruff was succeeded by Murphy & Orton. 
This firm in turn gave place to Goss & Sartwell. Mr. Goss, engaging in other im- 
portant enterprises, soon withdrew from the business, and in 1868 the firm became 
Sartwell, Hollister & Co. Some years prior to this date, the handling of rubbers, 
on a small scale, was begun by Messrs. Sartwell & Hollister, in the basement of 
the building in which was located the dry goods business to which this sketch is 
devoted. This enterprise developing rapidly, it was subsequently removed to a 
building on State street, in which place in 1866, the manufacture of boots and 
shoes was entered upon by a firm composed of H. J. Sartwell, Wadsworth Hollis- 
ter, D. M. Hough and E. G. Miles. This enterprise and the wholesale rubber 
business as well, were transferred later to a large building at 2 and 4 Genesee 
street. By the withdrawal fi"om the original firm of boot and shoe manufacturers 
of Messrs. Miles and Hollister, the firm name became Sartwell, Hough «& Go. In 
1880 the boot and shoe manufactory was removed to Rochester, the firm operating 
the business being Sartwell, Hough & Ford, the latter gentleman being a nephew 
of H. J. Sartwell. In 1881, Mr. Sartwell died and the business passed then into 
the hands of Hough & Ford. Up to the time of Mr. Sart well's death the rubber 
business had continued to be operated by the firm of Sartwell & Hollister, the as- 
sociates of Mr. Sartwell being Messrs. H. D. Noble and A. N. Hollister, nephews 
of Wadsworth Hollister, the former partner of Mr. Sartwell. After the death of 
Mr. Sartwell, the firm became Hollister & Noble, and by these gentlemen this im- 
portant enterprise has since been successfully operated. The history of this busi- 
ness has been given somewhat in detail, as it had its origin in the original enter- 
prise begun at 103 Genesee street, and may properly be regarded as an outgrowth 
of the old established but still highly prosperous business, still located at that 
place, to the tracing of the more recent events in whose history the reader's atten- 
tion is now invited. Following the proprietorship of Sartwell, Hollister & Co. 
came that of Sartwell, Ford & Rice. This firm was dissolved in 1874 by the re- 
tirement of Sartwell, and in 1880 Mr. Ford removed to Rochester, leaving the 
business in the hands of the present owner, Mr. John W. Rice. This gentleman 
came to Auburn from Buffalo in 1872 to enter the firm of Sartwell, Ford & Rice, 
and he has proved a worthy successor of the many prominent and successful busi- 
ness men, who either as his partners, or as former owners of the store, have known 
and served the public satisfactorily during the nearly half century's existence of 
this old and popular stand. Although the last of the line of well-known mer- 
chants who have been connected with this store, Mr. Rice has been longer a part 
or sole owner of the enterprise than any of his predecessors, save Mr. Sartwell. 
As Mr. Rice has been one the longest identified with the business, and has had 
sole charge of it during these more recent years of severe competition and gen- 
eral business depression, the sound commercial standing, and the excellent and 
substantial patronage enjoyed by this store, speak highly of his capacity as a 
merchant and of the generally satisfactory manner in which the business is con- 
ducted. The stock carried is large, varied and complete, both in the staples and 
novelties of the trade. The store is widely known for the excellent quality and 
thorough reliability of all the goods sold over its counters. The premises occu- 
pied are the main floor, 112x22 feet, the rear portion of the second floor, and the 
basement. Twelve persons are employed in the several branches of the business. 
The salesmen are uniformly courteous and attentive, and the whole atmosphere of 
this store is attractive and inviting. A further growth of the large patronage 



140 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

now accorded this old and widely known stand will be assured by a continuation 
of the present popular management. 

ALEX. McCREA. 

This gentleman is one of Auburn's old-time citizens, having been a resident 
here for the past 50 years. In 1833, Mr. Mc Crea came to Auburn with only a 
few dollars at bis command, and entered the employ of A. I. Blood, as a salesman. 
In a few years, enough of his earnings had been saved to enable him to enter into 
business for himself, which occurred in 1838. It was small, of course, at first, 
but not many years had elapsed ere he was doing a very large business. He is 
now located at No. 13 State street, where he enjoys a trade in the manufacture 
and disposal of all kinds of confectionery, cakes, bread and crackers, to the 
annual amount of about $100,000. Certainly this is a grand showing for one who 
started in life with nothing but what nature had endowed him with. His retail 
trade is very large, while his wholesale trade reaches a very satisfactory figure. 
The '"McCrea" crackers are noted throughout the State. He has a capacity for 
manufacturing 100 barrels of these goods per day. In each department of manu- 
facture there are experienced and well-paid workmen, who seem to be imbued 
with the interests of their employer, judging from the extra efforts they make to 
turn out work that does credit not only themselves but to Mr. IVIc Crea. The 
bakery is run night and day, the day being occupied by cracker baking, and 
the night in making bread and cakes. The ovens are the celebrated Hall patent. 
In this institution, Auburn has a house that does it credit as a growing and 
prosperous city, and Mr. Mc Crea is a citizen that any place might well be proud 

of: 

HENRY D. BARTO. 

The drug and medicine store of Henry D. Barto, at 81 Genesee street, is one of 
the best known mercantile concerns in Auburn, although established as recently 
as 1879. In that year, Mr. Barto i-emoved to this city from Rochester, where he 
had been for some time employed in the drug store of E. H. Davis. In starting 
a drug store in Auburn, Mr. Barto purchased new stock and fixtures, and by 
dealing honorably and carrying a full line of goods pertaining to his trade soon 
secured a good patronage. His business has steadily increased, and ranks to-day 
among the siiccessful establishments of the city. The sale of reserved seat tickets 
fin' the Academy of Music performances is in cliarge of Mr. Barto. Many people 
are drawn to the store through this agency and "Barto's"' is in consequence one 
of the busiest and most largely frequented stores on Genesee street. Knowing 
bow to please the public and being located so that Jiis business is brought directly 
to the attention of a large jiortion of the community, Mr. Barto will doubtlest* 
<»ntinue to hold the large pati'ouage he now enjoys^ and add to it year by year. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 141 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



General Business Interests. 



DAVID W. BARNES — WILLIAM O. BURGESS— THE AUBURN POR- 
TRAIT CO.— MITCHELL J. CAMERON. 



IN 1850 there came to Auburn a young man whose purpose vras to secure em- 
ployment as a stone and briek mason. He found work at the hands of Wil- 
liam C- Clark, a well known and successful mason and builder and set him- 
self diligently and industriously to learn the trade in a thorough manner. Three 
years later Mr. Clark decided to take a partner into his large and growing business. 
and David W. Barnes, his former faithful employe, became associated with him, 
the firm becoming Clark & Barnes. This copartnership was continued until 1875, 
when Mr. Clark withdrew, leaving his late associate, D. W. Barnes, in sole charge 
of tlie important business they had conducted jointly for twenty-two years. The 
record of the work accomplished by this energetic and reliable firm embraces much 
of the growth and upbuilding of this city. A large number of the principal pub- 
lic and private edifices of Auburn were erected by Clark & Barnes. Among the 
large contracts which were executed by them at an early period in their career, were 
the First National Bank building, the Seward building. Dunning & Co.'s store, 
and the D. A. Smith store, all built in 1868 ; and the Auburn Savings Bank, in 
1869-70. Later the Libi-ary building, and Morgan Hall, of the Theological Semi- 
nary, were erected by this firm. The greater number of the numerous fine resi- 
dences which have recently been erected on South street were constructed under 
the direction of Mr. Barnes. Among these contracts may be mentioned the ele- 
gant residences of G. W. Allen, Mrs. Steele, A. A. Boyd, and the Messrs. Den. 
nis, and Woodruff. The fine factory building on Logan street occupied by the 
Auburn Button Co., and the Logan Silk Mills, was built by Mr. Barnes. An im- 
portant contract being accomplished in a highly satisfactory manner is the 
building of tiie First Baptist church, at the corner of James and West Genesee 
streets. Large contracts have also been executed in Slcaneateles and many other 
neighboring communities. The work done under Mr. Barnes' contracts has the 
reputation of being thorough in every instance, and his standing for reliability 
gained through a long and prosperous career, is well-deserved and has had its just 
i-eward in ample business success and the highest confidence of the public. In the 
direct employ of Mr. Barnes are usually from fifty to eighty men, while indirectly he 
gives work to as many more in the quarrying of stc:)ne and getting out of other build- 
ing materials. The wages paid each month amount to $3,000. In the conduct of his 
important business, Mr. Barnes finds an efficient assistant in his son, Wilbur B. 
Barnes, by whom the practical details of building are being rapidly acquired under 
the competent guidance of his father. In all respects the business career of David 



142 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

W. Barnes has been a successful and worthy one, his labors have been of great 
value to this city, and to him and his son, who will probably succeed to the busi- 
ness, a continuation of the public confidence and patronage is fully merited. 




WILLIAM C. BURGESS. 

In the month of November, 1880, William C. Burgess, the well known music 
dealer of to-day, whose finely stocked and attractive store is located at No. 133, 
West Genesee street, came to Auburn as agent for the sale of the then not widely 
known Ithaca organs. The prospects for building up a successful business were 
not at all flattering at that time. The instruments from other manufactories than 
the comparatively recently established one at Ithaca were having a large sale in 
this city and vicinity, and the agents of those concerns wex-e wide awake and zeal- 
ous in their efforts to hold the terriotory. Not at all discouraged by the heavy 
odds against him, Mr. Burgess set himself vigorously at work, and by virtue of the 
high order of merit of the wares he had for sale and his shrewdness and hard work 
he shortly had the satisfaction of working up a fine business. During the fii-st 
twelve months sixty-six organs were sold and the popularity of the Ithaca instru- 
ment over all its competitors was well established in this section. Up to October, 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 143 

1881, Mr. Burgess had carried on his business without occupying a store here. At 
that time, however, the Armory Block having just been completed, he secured 
quarters in it for use as a depot for the organs, and an office where purchasers 
could leave their deposits upon instruments bought on the installment plan. In 
December following the lines of the business were extended by putting in a 
stock of musical instruments and musical supplies generally. He removed to the 
handsome storeroom now occupied on the first of May, 1884. As the business has 
prospered and developed, the stock has been much added to, and Mr. Burgess' 
store is now one of the most completely stocked and well conducted music stores 
outside of the metropolis. The sale of the famous Ithaca organs has been all 
along the leading feature of the business, and the number finding buyers here has 
increased considerably each year, since they were introduced to the public of this 
city and vicinity. Upwards of 500 Ithaca organs have been disposed of by Mr. 
Burgess since his establishment in Auburn. Mr. Burgess also has the sale of the 
Ithaca duplex pianos, as well as of the instruments from the factories of a num- 
ber of other famous makers, among whom may be named Decker Brothers, Hard- 
man, Haines Brothers, Chickering, and Kranich & Bach. A large number of pi- 
anos of the several kinds handled have been sold by Mr. Burgess, but he has met with 
especial success in the sale of the Hardman, which has heretofore been the favorite in 
this locality. The popularity of the Ithaca pianos, as well as of the organs, is growing 
fast, and it is only a question of a short time when they will be found outstripping 
all competitors. Referring to the recent newspaper reports regarding the finan- 
cial embarrassment of the Ithaca Piano and Organ Co., Mr. Burgess stated to the 
writer that opei'ations had for a time been largely suspended at the factory, owing 
to certain changes in the manner of conducting the business, and to allow of the 
disposition of stock on hand which quickly accumulated after the change referred 
to was first set on foot, but that matters were now again in a satisfactory condi- 
tion and business having been resumed would be carried on hereafter in a conserv- 
ative and substantial manner. The high standard of the Ithaca organs and pi- 
anos, with which the public has become familiar, will be fully sustained, and these 
popular instruments are destined to a largely increased and growing yearly sale. 
The large success which Mr. Burgess has won, both as agent of the Ithaca Piano 
and Organ Co., and as a dealer in general musical supplies, shows him to be pos- 
sessed of no sn\all amount of business tact and energy, and a further and wider ae- 
quintanee with the public, and largely increased success in his ventures, should 
and doubtless will be attained by him. 

TBE AUBURN PORTRAIT CO. 

This Company has been doing business since 1 877, and is under the management 
of Robert and James Bi-uce, These gentlemen are both practical men in this business 
and as a result of their knowledge of its requirements the concern has flourished, and 
grown to a business of great magnitude. Of all the houses engaged in the repro- 
duction of copies of pictures of the many and various styles in this country, that 
of the Auburn Portrait Co. is justly entitled to a position of high rank, because of 
the energy displayed and thorough acquaintance of the wants of agents and the 
public generally. The advantage of having practical men at the head of the con- 
cern, enables them to select the best talent in all departments of their business. 
Mr. James Bruce is regarded as an artist of exceptional merit, having painted por- 
traits of some of the most distinguished men in the country. This Company em- 



144 AUBUllN N. Y., ITS 

ploy a large number of artists of talent, secured at large expense. The aim of the 
Bruce Bros, has always been to employ in each of their various departments the 
best help to be obtained. Their business is exceedingly large and growing rapidly, 
justly because they strive for trade, having branch houses to the number of four 
located in as many of the cities of the south and west, and because the work turned 
out by them is of a superior order. The Bruce Bros, are not doing business for 
the sake of to-day's trade, but depend entirely upon the class of work turned out by 
them for their futurebusiness. Their place of business is located at Nos. 89 and 91 
Genesee street, occupying the upper floors of these four story buildings, which are 
fitted throughout especially for their business. 

MITCHELL J. CAMERON. 

When the grim angel death enters a home, the bereaved family find the duty of 
preparing for burial the body of their loved one a task that is almost unbearable. 
But it is a duty that must be performed, and although their grief cannot be as- 
suaged, their feelings may be less harrowed by the knowledge that all that remains 
of their darling is handled tenderly and carefully by a thoughtful, I'espectable and 
competent gentleman making the preformance of such solemn tasks his business. 
The calling of a funeral director and undertaker is indeed one requiring a special 
aptitude, and the tact and the judgment displayed by them in the performance of 
their duties can only be appreciated by the sorrowing ones whom they serve. Al- 
though Mr. Mitchell J. Cameron has been known to the people of Auburn but a 
very short time, the period has been sufficient for him to become known as a gen- 
tleman possessing in a large degree the requisites that make the services of one 
following his calling acceptable. He came to this city in November of 1883 and 
purchased the stock and good will of Messi"s. H. P. Bender & Co., who had estab- 
lished themselves in this business during the spring of 1882. A thoughtful and 
intelligent gentleman, while not intruding with his sympathy upon those requiring 
his services, he showed by his actions that he respected their grief, and has con- 
sequently made so many friends by the kind and considerate performance of his 
duties that his future residence here is assured. Mr. Cameron's office and ware 
rooms are at No. 5 State street, where in handsome cases are shown a fine assort- 
ment of robes and coffin trimmings and a large stock of burial eases and caskets 
of all the designs manufactured. While devoting his attention more especially 
to the direction of funerals in this vicinity, he is also prepared to do a jobbing 
trade in the specialties required by undertakers, and is fully entitled to the 
confidence and patronage of all. He comes here well recommended, having been 
engaged in undertaking for the past twenty-five years in Massachusetts and New 
Brunswick. He was the first undertaker to intwduce embalming in the I^ower 
Dominions of Canada, he having graduated from the Rochester School of embalm- 
ing and received a diploma from Professor Renourd, the greatest ombalmer of 
the present age. The cordial reception Mr. Cameron has met with in this city is 
very gratifying to him and he will doubtless prove that the confidence placed in 
him has not been misplaced. 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 145 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



General Business Interests. 



J. HENRY IVISON — CHARLES CARPENTER & SON— CHARLES H. SA- 
GAR— HENRY W. BR IXIUS— GREEN & WICKS— JONH K. TALLMAN— 
S. C. TALLMAN & CO. —ORLANDO S. CLARK. 



THE book and stationery business located in the attractive store at 97 Gene- 
see street, which recently passed under the exclusive ownership of J. 
Henry Ivison, was established more than half a century ago, and has 
been conducted successively by eight different firms. The business was originally 
established by H. and J. C. Ivison, uncle and father respectively, of the present 
proprietor, the store at first occupied being at 80 Genesee street, where is now the 
restaurant of Mrs. H. B. Gilbert. Eight years later the prosperous business was 
removed to No. 97 Genesee street, where for forty-six years it has continued, pass- 
ing in that time through many changes of ownership and various stages of suc- 
cess, but remaining to-day the leading establishment of its kind in the city. Fol- 
lowing the proprietorship of the original firm, which was dissolved in 1854, owing 
to the removal to Ne\^ Y^ork of Henry Ivison, the business passed into the hands 
of J. C. Ivison & Co. This firm was succeeded by a copartnership composed of James 
Seymour, Jr., and Dennis Alward, who in turn gave way to A. H. Goss and C. P. 
Williams. From Goss & Williams it went into the hands of Williams & .Johnson, 
and thence to Charles P. Williams in 1863. The business was conducted by Mr. 
Williams until 1879, when a copartnership was formed by J. Henry Ivison and 
Edward S. Perry, and by these gentlemen the business was carried on until Jan- 
uary 1st, of the present year. Under the individual ownership of Mr. Ivison, this 
old stand is properly conducted and meets with a liberal patronage. A large and 
complete stock of books, stationery, school supplies and articles generally pertaining 
to this branch of trade is carried. A long and honorable career has grounded this 
store in the popular esteem and it is entirely safe to predict that its high standing 
will be fully maintained and a large increase of mercantile success attend it, under 
the direction of its present experienced and capable proprietor. 

CHARLES CARPENTER & SON. 

The business of Charles Carpenter & Son, hatters and furriers, located at 101 
Genesee street, without doubt takes precedence as the earliest established mer- 
cantile enterprise now in existence in Auburn. It has been operated since 1831, 
either partially or entirely by some one or more members of the family, whose 
representatives are to-day its proprietors, and its original inception occurred a 
number of years prior to that date. The early firm was Garrow & Lynds. Of 



146 AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 

the members of this copartnership, it may be said that no facts arc at hand re- 
garding the career of the first-named, Nathaniel Garrow, subsequent to the date 
of his withdrawal from the business to which this sketch is devoted. His some- 
time partner was Captain Elam Lynds, who became notorious as one of the earliest 
agents and wardens of the old prison in this city. His eccentric, not to say cruel 
method of dealing with refractory convicts, led to the publishing of a caustic satire 
entitled •'Chronicles of Gath," by a preacher of the Church of the Disciples, 
whose name has not been preserved from oblivion, even by his severe literary at- 
tack upon the quondam prison agent and hat merchant. Captain Lynds died in 
South Brooklyn in 1855- at the age of 71. In 1821, Garrow & Lynds were succeeded 
by Carpenter & Bodley. In 1835, Amos T. Carpenter, the father and grandfather, 
respectively of Charles and Charles H. Carpenter, the present joint owners of 
the business, purchased the interest of his partner, George II. Bodley. After six 
years of individual proprietorship, Mr. Carpenter took his son Charles, into the 
business, the firm becoming A. T. Carpenter & Son in 1841. In 1848 Amos T. 
Carpenter retired permanently. By him the store building occupied at the pres- 
ent time was erected in 1831, after a great fire which swept away all the buildings 
on the north side of Genesee street between State and North streets. Though 
never actively engaging in trade thereafter, Mr, Carpenter continued for many 
years to be a daily visitor to the store which he built and to take a lively interest 
in the enterprise of which for so many years he had been the active manager. He 
died July 3d, 1880, at the ripe old age of ninety years. After the retirement of 
their father in 1848, the business passed into the hands of Charles and Henry Car- 
penter. The firm of C. & H. Carpenter was continued until 1860, when Charles 
Carpent r purchased his brother's interest, and thereafter until August 1st, 1881, 
carried on the business alone. At that time, his son, Charles H., who had been 
connected with the store since 1863, was admitted to partnership with his father. 
The long experience in the business of the junior member of the present firm, 
added to the possession in large measure of the elements necessary in the make-up 
of a popular and successful merchant, hence made his connection with the busi- 
ness of great value to it. The high reputation enjoyed by this old established and 
well conducted house has been won by fair dealing and honorable methods gener- 
ally continued through a long term of years. It never enjoyed a better patronage 
than at the present time, and is well equipped for a further and wide career of 
mercantile success and usefulness. 

CHARLES H. SAGAR. 

In 1877, Charles H. Sagar, who had for several years been connected with the 
widely known wholesale drug house of C. W. Snow & Co., at Syracuse, came to 
Auburn, and forming a copartnership with S. E. Bowman, purchased the stock 
and fixtures of a drug business in the lower portion of the city. These were re- 
moved to the store at 108 Genesee street, the stock being considerably added to 
and greatly improved in all ways. Two years later the business, which had pros- 
pered well from the outset, was transferred to its present location at 109 Genesee 
. street. On January 1st, 1883, Mr. Bowman withdrew from the partnership, leav- 
ing Mr. Sagar in entire control of the growing business. The stock was further 
enlarged by Mr. Sagar, and his store is without doubt now carrying a larger and 
better selected line of pure drugs and medicines than any similar establishment in 
this part of the State. It has been by means of the outlay of considerable money 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 147 

that so large and complete a stock has been secured, but the result has justified the 
wisdom of Mr. Sagar's course. The patronage accorded his store is very large 
and continues to grow yearly. In this store is to be found the only line of surgi- 
cal instruments carried by any druggist located between Syracuse and Rochester. 
A more complete homoeopathic pharmacy is also maintained by Mr. Sagar than is 
to be found elsewhere in this vicinity. In addition to the maintenance of a full 
and complete stock of drugs, medicines, proprietary remedies, etc., a very complete 
line of holiday goods, toilet articles and sundries is to be found here, and the 
trade in goods of this class is also important. In all respects the business con- 
ducted by Mr. Sagar is a well-managed and reliable enterprise, and further and 
wider trade and popularity are in every way merited by this store and its capable 
proprietor. 

HENRY W. BRIXIUS. 

One of the special industries of this city which merits a brief description is that 
conducted by Henry W. Brixius, at 24 Market street. After a practical experi- 
ence of twelve years in the employ of the late firm of D. C. & G. W. Richardson, 
whose large furniture business, located in the brick block at the junction of South 
and Exchange streets, was established at an early period in the history of Auburn, 
Mr. Brixius began business on his own account at the place named above in the 
fall of 1882. He is probably one of the most skillful upholsterers in this section 
of the state and his practical training, added to natural taste and judgment, gives 
his work a high order of merit. He has produced, to meet the requirenients of 
his patrons, included among whom have been not a few of the leading citjizens, 
much very handsome furniture. In his workshop can be found a good supply of 
the richest fabrics for upholstering purposes known to the trade. Two floors of 
the building at 24 Mai-ket street, are made use of by Mr. Brixius and his assist- 
ants. In the line of fine upholstering this establishment will continue to hold a 
leading position as against all local competition. 

GREEN & WICKS. 

The members of this rising young firm of architects, namely, Mr. B. B. Green 
and Mr. W. S. Wicks, having successfully completed courses of instruction in 
Cornell University, and availed themselves of a large amount of practical expe- 
rience in the office of William H. Miller, the well known architect at Ithaca, 
opened an office in this city in the summer of 1882, in the Cayuga County National 
Bank building. Since their establishment in Auburn, rapid progress in their pro- 
fession has been made. Numerous opportunities have been obtained for the dis- 
play of the skill, originality and thoroughness which are possessed in no small de- 
gree by the individual members, and not a few very fine structures have been 
reared within the city's borders, or in adjacent communities, in accordance with 
the drawings supplied by them. Among these may be named the elegant resi- 
dences of Messrs. G. W. Allen, A. A. Boyd and Mrs. C. M. Dennis, on South 
street ; of Mrs. H. D. Noble and Mr. C. L. Sheldon, on Genesee street ; two public 
school edifices, and the County Clerk's office ; the residence of Josiah C. Willetts, 
in Skaneateles; a large school building in Waterloo, and the residence of Judge 
Wilcoxen, in Seneca Falls. Plans from this office for a fine chapel house have 



148 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 




THE TALLMAN BUILDING, CORNER STATE AND DILL STREETS. 

been accepted recently by the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Cornell University, and 
the erection of the building will soon be begun. Along with this excellent showing 
for this locality the firm have also been increasing their business and reputation by 
the establishment of an office in Buffalo. Mr. Wicks remains in charge of the of- 
fice in Auburn, which in January last was removed to the new Osborne block, some 
doors to the cast of the Cayuga County National Bank building, while Mr. Green 
conducts the office in Buffalo. It is not to be doubted that the flattering success 
which has thus far attended Messrs. Green and Wicks, is but the precursor of 
further and widely increased growth and standing in their profession. 

JOHN K. TALLMAN. 



■ The well-known liveryman and furnishing undertaker, John K. Tallman. 
whose office and ware rooms are situated at No. 30 State street, began his busi- 
ness career in Auburn in 1859, when, in connection with E. D. Clapp, the suc- 
cessful manufacturer and capitalist of late years, he opened a hack stand and 
livery stable on Garden street. In 1860, Messrs. Clapp & Tallman, as the firm 
was styled, purchased the stock and business of Jabez Gould, on School street, and 
transferred it to their Garden street concern. In 1861, they purchased of Charles 
Bemis, the hacks, horses, etc., which had been employed in his livery business 
located on State street, not far from Genesee. The Garden street business was 
now removed to the old Bemis stand on State state, and there Clapp & Tallman 
remained until 18G4. Meanwhile, in 1862, the livery business on Dill street, which 
had been established by Henry R. Pomeroy, was [nirchased by Clapp & Tallman, 
and carried on by them in connection with their State street concern. In 1804, 
the brick block now standing at the corner of State and Dill streets was built by 
Clapp & Tallman. In the upper portion of this building was begun the making 
on a small scale of carriages and wagons, which project later passing into tho 



FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 149 

liands of Mr, Clapp exclusively, became the basis of the great wagon manufactur- 
ing enterprise of which he is the head. In 1866 this factory building was con- 
verted into stores, offices, etc., the manufacturing being removed to other quarters. 
Meanwhile the livery and hack business had been carried on and had retained its 
importance as the leading business of the kind in the city. In 18G8 Messrs. Clapp 
& Tallman made an exchange of interests, and dissolved their copartnership, the 
former succeeding to the entire control of the manufacturing portion of their 
former joint enterprises, and the latter to the hack and livery. Ii\-om this time 
forward until 1879, Mr. Tallman gave his entire attention to the hack and livery 
business and the sale of coal, as agent for the E. D. Clapp Co. In that year he 
purchased the interest of John H. Hubbard, of Hubbard & Searls, who for some 
time carried on an important undertaking business in Exchange street. The firm 
of Searls & Tallman, (Mr. Tallman desiring that his partner's name should take 
precedence owing to his large expei'ience in the business,) continued the business 
on Exchange street, until the spring of 1880, when Mr. Searls withdrew, and 
Mr. Tallman removed the business to its present quarters at 30 State street. 
With the assistance of experienced men he has since carried on in a very successful 
and thoroughly trustworthy manner the very important business to wiiich he suc- 
ceeded, and which by virtue of special fitness and large energy he has very much added 
to. The prosperous hack and livery business, whicli for some years had occupied 
a commodious building on Dill street, readily accessible from the rear of Mr. 
Tallman's ware rooms, has been of late under the competent management of his 
son, Humphrey A. Tallman. The equipment of this branch of Mr. Tallman's 
business is large and complete. In the ware rooms and stables, twelve persons 
find employment, and in all respects the business of Mr. Tallman is well and 
capably conducted. 

S. a TALLMAN & CO. 

One of the most successful photo-copying houses in this city was estab- 
lished as recently as 1881, by S. C. Tallman & Co., the leading member of 
the firm being a son of John K. Tallman, a sketch of whose eventful business 
career has been given. The business of S. C. Tallman & Co. occupies the whole 
of the upper portion of the large block at the corner of Dill and State streets, 
which, as previously stated, was erected in 1864 by Clapj) & Tallman, The 
fourth stoi-y was added expressly for the use of S. C. Tallman & Co. and the vari- 
ous rooms into which the lloor is divided were arranged with especial reference to 
the requirements of that enterprise. The development of the venture set on foot a 
little more than three years since by S. C. Tallman has been very rapid. At the 
office alone from ten to twelve persons, among them several first class ink, oil and 
water color artists, find constant employment, and besides much work is given 
out to be accomplished at the homes of individuals in various portions of the 
city. Orders are daily received from all over the United States, and notwithstand- 
ing the severe competition, and not infrequently unfair methods of some rival 
concerns, a fine patronage is enjoyed and the prospects for a still greater business 
are good. 

ORLANDO S. CLAKK. 

Having been engaged as a builder and carpenter for years in the city, and feel- 
ing the necessity of a depot of supplies for builders, in 1878 Mr. Clai*k estab- 
lished himself at No. 173 State sti-eet, whei*e he laid in a full stock of sand, linic, 



150 



AUBURN, N. Y., ITS 



cement, plaster paris, plastering hair, sewer and drain pipe, and plaster casts for 
ceilings. The patronage received by Mr. Clark attests the wisdom of the move. 
His business has been uniformly successful, and has increased largely since its 
establishment. He makes ^a specialty of plaster paris ornaments, terra cotta 
vases and chimney tops. Having the sale of the drain and sewer pipe manu- 
factured under the control of the National Sewer Pipe Co.'s, of Wellsville, Ohio, 
he is able to offer superior inducements to buyers of these goods. The buildings 
occupied consist of main building, 40x44 feet, two stories high, a storage building, 
20x30 feet, one story high, and the stable and storage building, 30x42 feet in di- 
mensions, two stories high, all of which are frame buildings. The stock carried can 
be depended on as the best that can be produced for the money, and all manufac- 
tured articles for building purposes are of the latest style. Mr. Clark has a high 
reputation as a contractor and builder, and during the busy season employs fifty 
men. The success achieved by him is all due to his own efforts and ranks him 
among the self-made men of the city. 




FACILITIES AND RESOURCES. 151 



INDEX. 



Adams Henry L., Il8 

Allen John E., 123-126 

Allen Frederick, 136 

Auburn Agricultural Works, (J. M. Alden,) 98 

Auburn Button Co 85-86 

Auburn Copying House, (G. W. Hoffman,) 115-116 

Auburn Eye and Ear Hospital, (Dr. G.J. West,). 111-112 

Auburn Iron Works 94-95 

Auburn Manufacturing Co., 73-78 

Auburn Paper Co., (Botsford Bros.,) 113 

Auburn Tool Co , 91-93 

Auburn Woolen Co., 87-88 

Baker J. L 119 

Barber & Sons Josiah, 84-85 

Barker, Griswold & Co., 122-123 

Barnes David W., 141-142 

Barto Henry D 140 

Birdsall Co., The, 83-84 

Bray Walter Jr., 114-115 

Brixius Henry W. , 147 

Bruce Bros., (Auburn Portrait Co.) 143-144 

Burgess W. C, 142-143 

Cameron Mitchell J., 144 

Canoga Woolen Co., 88 

Carpenter Charles & Son, 145-146 

Clapp Manufacturing Co., The E. D 67-70 

Clapp Wagon Co., The E. D 70-73 

Clark Orlando S., 149-150 

Cook J. A., 101-102 

Conklin C. W., 94 

Crane W. W., 95-96 

Driggs, Phillips& Co., , 117 

Elliott John, 110 

Elliott J. M., 118-119 

Empire Wringer Co. , 81-83 

Everts & Co., D. P. G. & W. 0., 108-109 

Fanning Gurdon S., 107-108 

Green& Wicks 147-148 

Holmes .James, 110-111 

Hurd John M., 104-105 

Hutchins C. S., (Auburn Copying Co.), 135-136 

Ingalls & Co., 133-134 

Ivison J. Henry, ..' 145 

Koenig William Ill 

Lawton A. W 120-122 

Lewis O. S., (The Stone Mill), 104 

Logan Silk Mills, 86-87 

Lyon, Elliott & Bloom 130-133 

Madden M. & J., (The Boston Store,) 117 

Manning, Howland & Clark, 113-114 

Manro & Neyhart (The Auburn Mills.) 100-101 

Marshall L., 130 

McCrea A., 140 

McDonough A, P., 106-107 



153 INDEX. 

Nye & Wait, 88-90 

Osborne & Co. Works, The D. M., 62-67 

Peat & Klinkert, 103-104 

Porter C. A., 129-130 

Powell Fred H., 117-118 

Quick Isaac W., 97-98 

RiceJohnW., 138-140 

Rothery Augustus W., 109-110 

Sagar Chas. H., 146-147 

Schicht M. J., 102-103 

Schweinfurth C. J., 106 

Shapley & Peters 96-97 

Shoemaker Irven 114 

Singer Sewing Machine Co. (Cornelius B. Alliger,) 134-135 

Stevens & Son, A. W., 78-81 

Stevens J. A., 109 

Stout James C, 126-127 

Sutcliffe William, 99-100 

Sutton W. J., 132-133 

Swartout A. B., 137-138 

Tallman John K 148-149 

Tallman S. C. & Co 149 

TenEyck & Co., 129 

Wadsworth David & Son 93-94 

Ward & Tompkins, 132 

Watson, Cox & Co,, 127-128 

Weeks, Cossum & Co., 128 

White & Rowe, 102 

Wilkin H. D., 115 

Wills, Home & Co 105-106 

Woodcock & Co 91 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

View of Genesee street, looking east from State 11 

View of the State Prison at Auburn 24 

View of the Theological Seminary at Auburn 38 

View of the State Armory at Auburn 50 

View of First Baptist church (now building), Genesee and James streets.. 60 

E. D. Clapp's shop— 1864 68 

E. D. Clapp & Co.'s Works— 1869-74 69 

View of the E. D. Clapp Co.'s Works— 1884 72 

Centennial Exhibit of the Auburn Maiuifacturing Co 75 

View of A. W. Stevens & Son's Thresher Manufactory 79 

View of the Auburn Button Works and Logan Silk Mills 86 

View of Nye & Wait's Carpet Factory 90 

View of Tanning's Brewery 108 

The Auburn Savings Bank building 112 

The Auburn Copying House building 116 

The Osborne House, corner of State and SVater streets 124 

Swartout's Clothing Store, No. 75 Genesee street 138 

The Tallman Building, corner State and Dill streets 148 




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